Can artificial intelligence help in Ukraine’s fight against corruption? Kristina V. Arianina The Ukrainian government has announced a scheme to use AI to fight corruption in the Verkhovna Rada, the …
The New PRESENCE
The war on rough sleeping
On the criminalization of homelessness in Hungary Vera Kovács The criminalization of homelessness was written into the Hungarian constitution in 2018, which caused international uproar and condemnation by the UN. …
Free expression on the margins
The Kremlin and the media Maria Lipman On coming to power, Vladimir Putin set about restricting the freedoms that Russian media enjoyed under Yeltsin. After the protests of 2011–12, …
The price of unity
The transformation of Germany and east central Europe after 1989 Philipp Ther The strength of the German economy is often attributed to the shock therapy of the 1990s. But …
Lies, fakes and deep fakes
Deceptions and scams in the age of Trump Sidney Tarrow ‘Deep fakes’ – the latest phase in the use of artificial intelligence to simulate reality – are increasingly being …
‘But this is the world we live in’
Corruption, everyday managing and civic mobilization in post-socialist Romania Jill Massino The strategies that Romanians employ to negotiate the capitalist economy are much like those they used under socialism. Nepotism …
There will be no singing revolution in Russia
Wojciech Siegień Concerned to avert a ‘singing revolution’ in Russia, the Kremlin has co-opted the country’s independent music scene. Apolitical and nihilistic, it is doubtful whether Russian artists could ever …
Damage done
The Trump–Ukraine controversy in perspective Nataliya Gumenyuk Coverage of the Trump–Ukraine controversy has focused on the political fall-out in the US. But the harm done to Ukraine may be …
Brexit, dark money and big data
Adam Ramsay An investigation by openDemocracy into the financing of the Brexit campaign in 2016 has raised far-reaching questions about connections between neoliberal elites, the tech industry and the private …
A betrayal by the intellectuals
Hopes of a smooth transition from ‘goulash communism’ to market economies have long since been dashed by the ‘post-Soviet mafia-state’ in Hungary. But to what extent are liberal intellectuals themselves …
A crazy and tasteless idea
The Czech Republic’s leading theologian, dissident and philosopher speaks out on the debate as to whether to have the funeral of the recently deceased singer Karel Gott in the national …
FROM REUTERS: China’s Czech advance hampered by Huawei jitters, Tibetan flags
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Fizzled investments, cyber security warnings and a Prague mayor defying Beijing by forging his own diplomatic path are muddying inroads China has made into the Czech Republic …
Sources of uncertain hope
Czech Republic, Spain, Norway and Belgium after the EP elections After May’s elections, Prague saw the largest public demonstration since the Velvet Revolution. The country now hosts the strongest Pirate …
Not Without My Gun – The American Death Spiral
29 dead and 53 wounded. That’s the tally from last weekend’s mass shootings in the US. World leaders were quick to send condolences, usually in the form of “we are …
Putinism after Putin
Many Russians were happy to exchange the freedoms of the 1990s for a stream of oil money and a concept of ‘order’ guaranteed by a paternalistic leader. Putin’s popularity may …
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