Publications

This publication tackles one of the most weaponized anti-gender narratives – transgender people in sports. It provides a framework that connects transgender participation to wider struggles for gender equality and human rights.

It is near consensual among Europeans that they need to strengthen the ‘European pillar in NATO’. This study traces the evolution of the concept of the European pillar, delineates potential meaning, and spells out what it would take to operationalize it.

Private tech money is rapidly accelerating solar geoengineering research. Funding has increased more than tenfold since 2020, largely from the US and UK. Who shapes decisions on these high-risk technologies – investors or democratic debate?

Despite 25 years of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, feminist peacebuilding is stalling. Rising militarization and backlash threaten hard-won norms. The publication calls for a redoubling of efforts rooted in solidarity and structural change.

Across the globe, environmental defenders are facing growing digital repression. This publication explores how grassroots movements are resisting surveillance, online violence and gendered disinformation by reclaiming technology.

The European Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 MFF opens a chance to raise ambition on climate, social, economic and security goals. This framing paper outlines key budget needs, priority areas and governance reforms.

The next MFF proposes centralised National and Regional Partnership Plans, shifting power to national governments and the European Commission. While promising coherence, this risks weaker regional involvement and oversight. 

The 2028–2034 MFF proposal acknowledges social pressures but risks diluting the EU’s social dimension. Social spending is consolidated without a dedicated European Social Fund line, while guarantees are weakened. 

The European Commission’s new MFF proposal introduces five new own resources to fund Next Generation EU debt and modernise EU revenues. This paper assesses the package and argues for a balanced basket of genuine new resources to support EU goals.

The MFF proposal sidelines climate and the environment. This paper assesses the spending target, the Do No Significant Harm principle, and climate and environmental provisions in the proposal’s two largest programmes.

Enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions of Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities are systematic and widespread, yet severely underreported. Germany and the EU must use diplomatic leverage to counter this deliberate tool of war.

Latin America and the Caribbean stand at a crossroads of escalating debt, intensifying climate shocks, and stalled progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. A new policy brief analyses the region's debt dynamics.

The global expansion of electromobility is intensifying competition for critical raw materials. A new analysis connects European supply chains to specific mining sites for the first time, identifying key environmental and social risks.

Across Africa, climate shocks and debt distress fuel each other in a vicious cycle. With external debt more than tripling since 2008, rising costs and plunging currencies are squeezing public finances - leaving little room for vital climate resilience investments. 

Security, dignity, and self-determination for all people in Palestine and Israel are the basis for lasting security. An approach based on international law and feminism offers further options for action.

As Europe rethinks its security strategy in light of global shifts, a new initiative aims to ramp up defense efforts. This paper warns the plan lacks real coordination incentives and calls for deeper reforms that tie funding to shared priorities like democratic resilience and climate security.

The incoming German government will have to navigate challenges that are existential to Germany, Europe. This publication applies a feminist perspective to the far-reaching impact of the second Trump administration on global peace and security.

This research seeks to break the silence surrounding sexual consent, particularly in a culture where women are pressured to remain virgins until marriage and are frequently blamed when they fall victims of sexual violence. 

This paper explores how the EU and its member states could adjust their climate policies based on expected Trump administration positions regarding two key elements of global climate action, and possible European responses along the variables of unity and decisiveness.

Cybercrime threatens not only digital security but also deepens social inequalities, affecting marginalized groups like women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and human rights defenders. This policy briefing explores the risks of weaponized cyber laws and proposes a human rights-based approach.

The European Union has many candidates for membership. It is currently conducting negotiations with Albania, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the accession processes are complicated. The current policy paper on the reform debate analyses the arguments for and against a rapid enlargement of the EU and provides recommendations for policy-makers.