What happens when digital systems outgrow the Earth that sustains them? Computing has always consumed energy and water, but the growing ambitions of the AI industry are pushing demand to an unprecedented scale. As pressures mount, data centers in orbit around the Earth have been pitched as a solution. But space is no escape, and what is framed as a technical fix risks entrenching digital dependence in an increasingly militarized, fragile, and crisis-prone environment. Orbital data centers…

Georgia has been an EU candidate country since December 2023. In 2024, the Georgian parliament passed the so-called foreign agent law, which was modelled on Russian legislation. Reporters Without Borders documented more than 600 attacks on journalists in ​​a single year. Both the ruling party and the opposition claim to support Europe. However, Georgia’s candidacy was effectively terminated in 2025, due to the country’s democratic backsliding. This compels us to ask why EU pressure is failing…

Recent protests in Iran have been increasingly dominated by voices that represent a backlash against the feminist foundations of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. What began as a movement centered on women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and resistance to systemic gender discrimination has gradually been reframed through a masculinist narrative that frames itself as the sole voice of Iran. In doing so, this backlash not only marginalizes the voices of feminists and reduces diversity, but also…

The U.S. nuclear umbrella isn’t watertight, the French Eurodeterrent isn’t fully stretched out, and a German A-bomb would have painful consequences for the country. This PRIF-Blog therefore concludes that the triad of an effective European conventional defense, arms control, and active diplomacy offers the best protection against nuclear threats from Russia. Especially since Trump has withdrawn his commitment to station Tomahawks in Germany.

The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked by both Iran and the US. The result is a disruption of a large share of the supply of global crude oil and gas, but also petrochemical feedstock materials for fertilizers. While this energy and resource shock is truly global in reach, its impact is felt differently in different world regions, as this joint PRIF blog article shows. 

Within displacement camps across Benue State, Nigeria, governance is increasingly shaped by informal digital practices that emerge alongside weakened institutional response systems. Support structures are overstretched and camp conditions remain precarious, while governance is often assumed to rest solely with external actors. Yet within these spaces, displaced youth are forging alternative systems of coordination and authority. Through WhatsApp groups, Facebook networks, and mobile…

Four months after a coup interrupted the electoral process in Guinea-Bissau, political violence and repression against civilians and the media have contributed to an unending political transition while eroding democratic prospects. In a conversational collage, we bring together our perspectives as a peace and conflict researcher, a journalist and teacher, and as a media studies scholar. Taking the recent death of a political activist and threats against media houses as a snapshot of the…

There is a growing tendency in American politics to attribute Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran to his being misled by Netanyahu. While this may explain his choice, it obscures the structures that enable one person to destabilize global security with minimal domestic or international support. Moreover, narratives emphasizing external influence on Trump misrepresent the U.S.-Israel power balance and exaggerate the influence of pro-Israel organizations on American policy. This allows U.S.…

On 10 April, Djibouti will kick off one of the four elections in the Horn of Africa in 2026—Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan. Conflict trends across the region indicate that these upcoming elections will act as stress multipliers, amplifying existing tensions rather than creating new ones. This has the potential to worsen ongoing insurgencies and unresolved political disputes, and to significantly increase the risk of electoral violence. Drawing on recent peace and conflict research…

Sudan’s Blue Nile state is becoming a strategic node where the country’s civil war intersects with wider regional power competition. Allegations that neighboring Ethiopia has facilitated Rapid Support Forces (RSF) activity by opening its borders for the RSF to train its fighters and is permitting the United Arab Emirates to use Ethiopia’s airports for logistical transfer are exemplary of the geopolitical problems facing Sudan.