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The High Stakes of Hormuz: Why the US-Iran War Will Not End Soon
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 The ceasefire between the US and Iran was greeted with an optimism that I consider premature. We are not witnessing a moment of rupture, but a new phase of the same negotiation process that has been underway since it became clear that the regime in Tehran would not collapse under US military pressure and that, perhaps paradoxically, it has emerged from the confrontation more internally strengthened than before. Categorical statements about the refusal of any negotiation or the imminence of devastating strikes against civilian infrastructure have been part of the communication game of both sides. The reality on the ground is different and much more complicated. More
To Use or Not to Use?
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 One of the loudest debates in the world today is about AI (artificial intelligence). People are understandably disturbed and uneasy because of the contradictory information circulating in the public sphere: AI is the future, if we live to see it; AI provides solutions for most of our problems; yes, but it also makes us less intelligent. In short, AI may save us or destroy us. More
What Is an Economic Miracle? A Concept Without a Definition
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 What does it take for an economy to be called a “miracle”? Is it rapid growth, institutional strength, resilience to shocks, or simply the ability to outperform expectations? The term is used with striking confidence in policy debates and public discourse. Yet despite its popularity, economists have never agreed on what constitutes an economic miracle. More
Regimes of Philosophic Doubt
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 The Austrian-American emigré scholar Peter F. Drucker’s The End of Economic Man (1939) was an early study of the political causes of the rise of totalitarianism. The author began drafting it in 1933 when Hitler first came to power in Germany. Already holding a doctorate in international and public law, the 23-year-old Drucker had begun lecturing as a Dozent at Frankfurt University the previous year. He feared that Hitler would come to power and was prepared to leave Germany. So when, a month after Hitler was appointed chancellor in January, the new Nazi commissar harangued the faculty and forbade the presence of Jews on campus, Drucker abruptly resigned his position and returned to Vienna. He later left for the United States shortly before the Anschluss of 1938. Thus he became part of a large influx of scholars to America – the beginning of what later in the 1950s would be called the “brain drain” from Europe. Drucker eventually became the leading management consultant in the United States. More
Sustainable Finance Unfolded: When Classic Banking Aligns with Environmental Goals
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 At a time when the debate surrounding the green transition oscillates between strategic urgency and immediate economic cost, sustainable finance has long since outgrown its status as a niche topic confined to public policy circles or academic discussions. From the European taxonomy, ESG regulations and climate finance to the redefinition of the role of banks, investments and fiscal policies, sustainable finance has become one of the major intellectual and institutional challenges of our time. For some, it represents an unavoidable necessity in a world increasingly confronted with climate, energy and social pressures; for others, the pace and costs of the transition raise legitimate questions regarding economic competitiveness, energy security and the social sustainability of the proposed transformations. Precisely for this reason, such a topic calls for discernment, critical thinking and interdisciplinary dialogue. More
Blue-Blooded Red Ideologue
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 I had a laugh with a friend the other day, wondering how many Labour peers there are in the House of Lords. We rather naively assumed there weren’t any. When we checked, we were stunned: the answer is 225 members of the House. More
Romania, Third Among EU Members Regarding the Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 In 2025, the highest share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion among European Union member states was recorded in Bulgaria (29.0%), followed by Greece (27.5%) and Romania (27.4%), according to data published by Eurostat. More
Positional Power Plays between the USA, China and Russia: The Case of Iran and Venezuela
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 February is usually regarded as the month to celebrate love, especially with February 14 being celebrated as Valentine’s Day in many countries. Yet, with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and the United States’ recent joint strikes on Iran alongside Israel on February 28, February might well be remembered for something else altogether. They do say that everything is fair in love and war. But war, politics and geopolitics, as stated as far back as Thucydides, have never been about fairness. It all boils down to pragmatism, setting goals, calculating odds, and taking chances deemed worth taking. Geopolitics is hardly an exact science, but there are some general rules and principles that guide the strategic actions of the players, each manifesting differently depending on the context. Thinkers from Sun Tzu to Thucydides to Machiavelli have all commented on the general principles underlying the decisions of actors in a variety of contexts, from warfare to court politics. Across time and place, their understanding of international politics reflected the anarchic realist school of thought focused on the use and pursuit of power as the foremost vector weaving the threads of conflicts and treaties. Realism has dominated international relations since as far back as history can record, and despite the fact that its application has varied according to geographic and historical context, its logic remains the same throughout time and space. Today, we witness China ramping up its military presence in Taiwan and the South China Sea, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and, most surprisingly, the United States’ significantly more aggressive attitude when it comes to international affairs. We’ve witnessed US military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on 22 June 2025 in the context of the twelve-day war between Iran and Israel, leading to a ceasefire. We’ve seen the United States amping up its aggressive stance towards Venezuela, culminating with its January strikes on the country and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The US had previously launched strikes against Venezuela as well. In addition, the US has also bombed Islamic State (ISIS) positions in Syria and Iraq. Now, we are witnessing the United States and Israel launching relentless strikes against a Russia- and China-backed Iran. More
Romania’s EU Funds Absorption: Between Capacity and Conditionality
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Romania’s absorption of EU structural and investment funds from 2015 to 2025 demonstrates a trajectory of gradual administrative maturation constrained by persistent governance rigidities. Despite measurable improvements in contracting efficiency, digitalisation, and procedural simplification, systemic vulnerabilities – particularly high staff turnover, inconsistent procurement capacity, and fragmented institutional coordination – continue to inhibit full realisation of the country’s absorption potential. Drawing on Eurostat datasets, European Commission monitoring reports, PNRR implementation data, and ministerial performance indicators, this article employs a mixed-methods analytical framework to explain the drivers of Romania’s uneven absorption patterns. The results underscore how EU conditionality has functioned simultaneously as a stabilising mechanism and a catalyst for reform. Ultimately, the findings highlight the necessity of embedding durable administrative reforms capable of sustaining performance beyond cyclical political pressures. More
Romanians in Malaysia: International (Temperate) Economics Lectures in An Intellectually Warm (Equatorial) Climate
No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 The visit of Professor Octavian-Dragomir Jora, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Mihaela Iacob, Ph.D., under the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for Teaching (STA) scheme, to Universiti Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 6-10), was conceived from the outset as an exercise meant to move beyond the constraints of mere comparability, highlighting instead the deeper scientific compatibility of the nowadays world. Beyond the inevitable need for mutual translation between distinct cultural and intellectual frameworks, what ultimately prevailed was a shared vein toward knowledge and critical inquiry – mediated by economics and empathy. In the lectures “Artificial Intelligence and Artistic Imagination: Rethinking the Cultural Economy of Industrial Revolutions” (Political Economy) and “The Market for Ideas amid Social Settings and Institutional Infrastructures: A Glimpse from Economics+” (Critical Thinking), layered meanings of the inescapable contemporary acronym “AI” – “artificial intelligence” and “artistic imagination”; “agoras of ideas” and “accelerated internationalization” – were revisited, across times and spaces, featuring as subtle junctions between technology and sensibility, as well as between sciences and consciences. More
The Bulgarian Doom Loop and Political Instability in Eastern Europe
No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Bulgaria held its eighth parliamentary election in five years on April 19, 2026. The Guinness Book of Records might soon find itself in competition with the Central Election Commission in Sofia for the most reliable chronicle of Bulgarian political milestones, but the result was, for once, reasonably decisive. Former President Rumen Radev, who resigned his largely ceremonial office in January in order to enter the murkier but more consequential arena of parliamentary politics, led his freshly minted Progressive Bulgaria coalition to a result not seen since 1997: an outright majority, 131 seats out of 240, enough to govern alone and, in principle, enough to silence, at least temporarily, the revolving door that has been the defining institutional feature of Bulgarian public life since 2021. More
What Makes a Good Life: The State, God, or Money? (Part II)
No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Following the exploration in Part I of the historical interplay between religion, state, and economic life, this second part turns to the Eastern trajectories and, in particular, to the Iranian case as a revealing study. It concludes by returning to the central question: what truly makes a good life possible? More
