TheMarketForIdeas

France and Kazakhstan: A Strengthened Strategic Partnership Gateway and accelerator for cooperation between Europe and Central Asia

Emmanuel Dupuy

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 In 2008, France and Kazakhstan signed a strategic partnership, which the two countries wanted to strengthen, in light of the visit of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to France last November. More

Liberty Without Asking for Permission

Steven Alan Samson

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 My soon-to-be-published book, "Government by Permission", grew out of the research I began in graduate school in 1970 for a master’s thesis on the impact of modern science and technology on society. It subsequently developed into a long-term project which I have pursued in many directions and across multiple disciplines and which carried over – interchangeably – into a career of research, lecturing, and writing. To illustrate the continuity, this article is largely composed of passages drawn from my previous work. More

On Peaches, Coconuts and Leadership An interview with Roxana Tănase – an intercultural traveller and more than that

Mariana Nicolae

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 Global careers are often described in terms of positions, promotions and achievements. Far less attention is paid to the personal transformation that accompanies them. This conversation with Roxana Tănase is less about career milestones than about curiosity, cultural intelligence, leadership, and the willingness to keep learning. More

The False Promise of Romania’s “New” Economic Model

Silviu Cerna

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 To halt the recession, correct macroeconomic imbalances, and return the economy to a “normal” state, a number of Romanian analysts, economists, and politicians advocate replacing the current economic model – based largely on consumption, financed in part through public borrowing – with one centred on investment, reindustrialisation, advanced technologies, and wage growth aligned with productivity. More

Why Goethe Should Have Won the Nobel Prize in Economics

Ionuț Bălan

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 A long-standing prejudice in modern and contemporary thought holds – sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly – that economics is one thing, while life, society, culture and everything else are quite another. In other words, to look at human existence through an economic lens is to confine it to measurable, arithmetic, “accounting” aspects that supposedly reveal nothing but the “greed” that drives people toward “profit.” More

Romania, Second-Lowest Price Level in the EU in 2025

Dan Pălăngean

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 Romania had the second-lowest price level in the EU in 2025, with an index of 65.1% relative to the European average. Bulgaria ranked first, with an index of 62.5%, while Poland (73.3%), Hungary (77.5%), Croatia (78.4%), Lithuania (82.8%), Latvia (83.2%), and Slovakia (85.2%) were all above Romania. More

The Unsinkable Lusitania Et in Coimbra Ego

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 The Lusitania sank in less than twenty minutes. The Lusitania that truly mattered never did. Most people remember Lusitania as the British ocean liner torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915, a tragedy that helped reshape the course of the First World War. Long before it was the name of a ship, however, Lusitania was the name of a land – a civilization whose greatest voyages began not on the ocean, but in the mind. More

The Factory, the Office and the West: Reading the Sino-Indian Rivalry Back to Economic Reality

Alexandra-Maria Milcoveanu

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 This essay looks again at the Chinese and Indian “economic miracles”, not as events that cannot be explained, but as the results of institutional reform. It then asks where the rivalry between the two Asian giants is being fought today. The main argument is that the United States and the European Union are not the main actors in this story, but external arenas in which the competition between China and India is expressed and measured. By looking at the American side (tariffs and “de-risking”) and the European side (regulation, connectivity and trade agreements), the essay shows how China and India turn Western policy into strategic decisions aimed, in the end, at each other. The conclusion is that globalisation today has not removed the rivalry between states, but only moved it to a new place and that the result will depend on the quality of institutions rather than on the idea of a “miracle”. More

Romania 2030: Integration, Resilience, and Reform Momentum Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 7

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 Romania approaches 2030 at a moment when fiscal consolidation, pension sustainability, energy transition, governance reform, security pressures, and EU‑funding absorption increasingly converge into a single strategic challenge. This article synthesises insights from the previous six parts of the series to outline how Romania’s structural vulnerabilities – ranging from demographic decline to administrative fragmentation – interact with its substantial advantages in energy, NATO positioning, and European integration. The central argument is that Romania’s trajectory will depend less on isolated policy interventions and more on coherent, sequenced, and sustained reforms capable of strengthening resilience and long‑term competitiveness. The 2030 horizon presents risks, but also an exceptional window for transformation anchored in EU, NATO, and OECD frameworks. More

The Concert of Terra: History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Rhymes

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 In May 2026, Beijing held two summits with Washington and Moscow six days apart, in this order and not by chance: Donald Trump on May 14 and Vladimir Putin on May 20. The immediate comments focused, predictably, on trade deals, gas pipelines and the rhetoric of summit diplomacy. This is the level at which the 24-hour media cycle operates. But there is a deeper level to these visits, which does not appear in the joint communiqués and which deserves patient analysis: Beijing did not react to world events, but orchestrated a deliberate sequence through which it positioned itself as the indispensable pivot of a multipolar system in search of stabilization. More

Making Sense of Speed and Turmoil in the Age of AI – China, the Middle East and the Rest Can we see through the winds of change?

Mariana Nicolae

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 At the beginning of May I was invited to participate in an international conference in Budapest jointly organized by the Center for International Economy at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) and the China-CEE Institute. The theme of the conference was “Geopolitical Stress Test: The Middle East Crisis and Europe’s China Dilemma”. It was a good opportunity to catch up with researchers that I have met before, to revisit the MCC Campus and to prepare for an exchange of ideas on one of the hottest topics of today’s political scene. More

Why Do We Love Football? An analysis of some of the “attraction factors” of the game

Mihnea Alexandru Ciocan

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Football (or soccer, as it is called in English-speaking ex-colonial zones; the term “soccer” was coined by English university students, deriving from “Association (Football)”, and was intended to distinguish the code of 11’s football from that of 15’s football, or rugby, or “rugger”) is almost omnipresent on the planet. This sport is a magnet for the masses, and its popularity constantly increases, according to statistics and worldwide reach. For sure, there are so many other sports games that are also very attractive, but somehow football stands out at the top of the list. However, did you ever wonder why this phenomenon is happening? More

When Chaos Becomes a Playing System Is a new football (un)order smiling around the corner?

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Tactical systems in football are a thing at least since the Scots put the ball on the grass and developed the passing game at the expense of the “kick-and-rush”. If kick-and-rush can hardly be called a tactical system (there was / is nothing systemic about it), the passing game gave rise to the WM formation, later tweaked by Hungarian coaches such as Márton Bukovi and Gusztáv Sebes. And even with the WM, a distinction must be made between a playing formation (which it more closely resembled) and a tactical system (which it was not yet). But it became one, at least from the moment of Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio, followed by Cruijff’s Totaalvoetbal, and more recently, Spanish tiki-taka. More

Technocracy and the Economy

Silviu Cerna

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 The words “technocrat” and “technocracy” have recently returned to public discourse in Romania. It appears that they were coined in 1919 by the American engineer W. H. Smith to designate a mode of economic organisation inspired by the rational principles of the natural sciences. The appeal of this current of thought was amplified by the disastrous effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Today, governments composed of technocrats are often regarded as viable solutions in times of crisis or when political leaders prove timid, indecisive, or discredited. More

When Consensus Becomes Systemic Risk: Mark Twain and the Failure of Experts

Ionuț Bălan

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Financial crises are often explained as failures of markets, regulation, or monetary policy. More often than not, however, they begin as failures of judgment. That may sound obvious. Yet modern societies continue to place extraordinary faith in expert opinion, particularly when uncertainty is high. Investors seek forecasts. Governments seek guidance. Central banks seek credibility. The assumption is that more expertise leads to better decisions. More

One Fifth of Young Romanian People Neither in Employment nor in Education or Training

Dan Pălăngean

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Last year, almost one fifth of young Romanian people were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET), according to data compiled and published by Eurostat. It is the largest proportion among all EU member states, well above the European average, and the situation has improved very little over the last ten years, in contrast to the progress recorded in neighbouring countries. More

Positional Power Plays between the USA, China and Russia: The Case of Iran and Venezuela Part II – The Return of Sphere-of-Influence Politics in a Multipolar Era

Adrian-Ioan Damoc

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 In recent decades, particularly in the aftermath of the Second World War, Western Europe has sought to withdraw from the logic of realist geopolitics, still bearing the scars of the many wars that have shaped European history, seeking peace through interdependence, integration and intergovernmental leadership. Although most EU member states are NATO members with the exception of Malta, Cyprus, Austria and Ireland, and armed forces from Western European states have participated in conflicts abroad (e. g. Iraq, Afghanistan), the memory of war and the brutality of realism-driven politics is largely a relic best locked away, an ever-present ghost the EU guards against, confined to the borders of faraway lands – other continents, other countries outside the EU’s borders – that is, until Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine forced Western Europe to acknowledge the reality of war as an ever-present possibility right near its doorstep. The United States, in turn, underwent several shifts, from its ideological and geopolitical Cold War to a unipolar world order that eventually turned multipolar, seeking to maintain its international presence in a world where its dominance following the crash of the USSR began to face the emergence of new poles of power. The United States’ military (through NATO) and diplomatic intervention in the Yugoslav Wars, most notably in Serbia and Kosovo, mirrored its concern for global security in an increasingly globalized environment, a mindset which was further cemented in the US National Security Strategy of 2000. The 9/11 attacks and the ensuing war on terror redefined the US security strategy, further amplifying its focus on global security. In hindsight, the absence of an unclassified national security strategy in 2003 makes sense given the US-led invasion of Iraq. The United States’ approach has always been marked by a need to maintain its competitiveness while also focusing on cooperation with its allies with a focus on global peace. Yet the most recent document the White House Administration published in November 2025 marks a shift in tone as per its own admission. The United States’ National Security Strategy, is unapologetic in its realist approach, its realpolitik tone evident even as it declares itself “realistic without being realist”. More

Energy Security and the Green Transition in Central Europe: Between Necessity and Resistance Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 6

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Romania’s energy security and green transition have become increasingly interdependent, shaped by both regional geopolitical pressures and the obligations of EU climate policy. While Romania benefits from low energy-import dependency and a structurally resilient electricity mix dominated by natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower, its progress in renewable energy deployment has been slow. Drawing on Eurostat, ENTSO-E, EC Climate Monitoring Reports, and national energy-planning documents, this article blends security analysis with transition governance to evaluate Romania’s energy system between 2015 and 2025. The findings show a country well-positioned for resilience, but institutionally slow to transition, with grid constraints, weak permitting systems, and regulatory inconsistency acting as major barriers. The discussion interprets these dynamics through regional comparisons and EU conditionality, proposing strategic pathways for Romania’s 2030 energy future. More

Gambling with God The Light of Easter and the Indo-Pacific

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 This year, I spent Orthodox Easter several thousand kilometres away from home, in a corner of the world where the Christian calendar leaves barely a faint imprint on the public rhythm of life. My stay in Malaysia, at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, through an Erasmus+ mobility program – interrupted by a brief foray into Singapore, coinciding with the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, when, instead of the candles of home, I found myself gazing at the surreal illuminations of Gardens by the Bay –, placed me in a world that seemed, at first glance, radically other. More

The High Stakes of Hormuz: Why the US-Iran War Will Not End Soon

Alexandru Georgescu

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? Spoiler alert – It’s addictive!

Mariana Nicolae

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

Jessie Sheneez Mohamed

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

Steven Alan Samson

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 Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), May 11-15, 2026, Predeal, Romania

Mihaela Iacob

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

Ionuț Bălan

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

Dan Pălăngean

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 Part I – Oil, Attrition and the Crisis of Western Cohesion

Adrian-Ioan Damoc

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 Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 5

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

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

Octavian-Dragomir Jora  Mihaela Iacob

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

Alexandru Georgescu

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) When faith overruns the state and why freedom still depends on money

Ion Pohoață

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

The Liquid Sun: Bridging Ideology with Infrastructure through the Siret-Bărăgan Project

Dan Bărbulescu

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 In the sun-drenched landscape of the global south and Eastern Europe, a quiet revolution is taking place at the intersection of two ancient necessities: water and energy. The most striking laboratory for this transformation is the Siret-Bărăgan Canal – a massive, unfinished legacy of Romania’s socialist era that may finally find its purpose through the most modern of capitalist mechanisms. More

Beyond the Stats Book Review: “Dan Carter. The Autobiography of an All Blacks Legend”, with Duncan Greive (Headline Publishing, 2015)

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 At first glance, we might be tempted to think that the career of a two-time world champion is defined entirely by success and fulfilment. And, to some extent, that is true. Yet what remains far less visible is the effort behind the scenes. “Dan Carter. The Autobiography of an All Blacks Legend” (Headline Publishing, 2015) stands, above all, as a testimony to effort and resilience. More

Why We Don’t Have Memorable Characters Like Hercule Poirot?

Ionuț Bălan

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 “Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown. Mr. Poirot achieved fame as a private investigator after he retired as a member of the Belgian police force in 1904. His career, as chronicled in the novels of Dame Agatha Christie, his creator, was one of the most illustrious in fiction. At the end of his life, he was arthritic and had a bad heart. He was in a wheelchair often, and was carried from his bedroom to the public lounge at Styles Court, a nursing home in Essex, wearing a wig and false moustaches to mask the signs of age that offended his vanity. In his active days, he was always impeccably dressed. Mr. Poirot, who was just 5 feet 4 inches tall, went to England from Belgium during World War I as a refugee. He settled in a little town not far from Styles, then an elaborate country estate, where he took on his first private case.” More

Forecasts and Reality

Silviu Cerna

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Economic forecasts rarely materialize exactly as expected, as economic reality is highly complex and full of surprises. Macroeconomic models used to produce forecasts are simplified representations of the economic system; the data they rely on are not always available in a timely manner, and economic developments are often affected by unforeseen shocks. More

Romania, Second Lowest Level in the EU in Labour Costs Last Year

Dan Pălăngean

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Romania remained at the second lowest level in the EU in terms of average hourly labour costs for 2025, according to data published by Eurostat. In a context marked by significant gaps between EU countries, the lowest hourly labour costs were recorded in Bulgaria (€12), Romania (€13.6, up from €12.5 in 2024), and Hungary (€15.2), while the highest were observed in Luxembourg (€56.8), Denmark (€51.7), and the Netherlands (€47.9). More

Connecting Continents: Intersecting European and Asian Perspectives Editorial release: “The EU and Asian states: Towards a sustainable cooperation. Opportunities for Romania”, European Institute of Romania, 2026

Mihai Sebe  Mihaela-Adriana Pădureanu

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 The European Institute of Romania (EIR) has published the working paper titled The EU and Asian States: Towards sustainable cooperation. Opportunities for Romania. Drawing on the deepening of regional integration trends – with the European Union representing the most advanced model – and the intensification of overlapping political, economic, and social challenges, this work brings together contributions from renowned international experts from 14 European and Asian states: Bulgaria, Hungary, France, Greece, Poland, Romania, and Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, and Pakistan. More

Governance and Political Stability: Reform, Transparency, and the Populist Challenge Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 4

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Governance remains the foundation of Romania’s long-term stability, shaping state capacity, public trust, and the credibility of reforms tied to EU and OECD integration. Over the past decade, Romania has made notable progress in judicial consolidation and administrative digitalisation, yet persistent vulnerabilities continue to weaken institutional performance. Fragmented public administration, frequent ministerial turnover, politicised appointments, and inconsistent policy continuity undermine reform momentum. Rising populist sentiment, low trust in political institutions, and intensifying electoral volatility add extra layers of uncertainty. Drawing on European Commission Rule of Law Reports, Eurobarometer trends, OECD accession benchmarks, and Transparency International indicators, this article examines Romania’s governance trajectory, identifies sources of institutional drift, and outlines strategic pathways for strengthening democratic resilience. More

The “Movements of the Earth” and the “Phases of the Moon” Apollo and Artemis

Octavian-Dragomir Jora  Mihaela Iacob

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 There is, in the way humanity names its grand projects, a form of allegorical memory that refuses to fade. The Apollo program was not merely a technological demonstration; it was an invocation of order, light, and reason amid the epic tensions of the Cold War. Today, Artemis brings onto the stage not another god, but a sister – a possible correction to “solarian” excesses. Artemis embodies rhythm, cyclicality, a return that is less triumphalist and more contemplative. NASA itself speaks, in recent communications, of “sustainable exploration,” suggesting that the epic is no longer about “reaching” the Moon, but about “settling” upon it. Myth does not disappear, it refines itself: from heroic gesture to ecosystemic one. In this sense, naming no longer legitimizes ambition alone, but responsibility as well – an ethics of human presence beyond Earth, in which mythological symbolism functions as a cultural compass within an increasingly “abstractly-technological” universe. More

The Hungarian Elections: The Prodigal Son Gets the Fatted Calf

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 On April 12, 2026, Péter Magyar and his Tisza party rewrote history. With nearly 80 percent turnout, Tisza secured 138 seats in the 199-seat Hungarian parliament on 53.6 percent of the vote, handing Viktor Orbán his first electoral defeat since 2006 and ending sixteen years of Fidesz rule. The celebrations along the Danube were genuine. They were also, in some important respects, premature. More

Shifting from Theories Made to Explain Humans to Humans “Made” to Explain Theories

Tudor Bălan

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 In Friedrich Hayek’s words, “the curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design”. The shortsighted tendency to reduce higher-order interdependencies to linear relationships that miss out on essential details is conveyed by Robert Lucas’ “critique”. Phillips, the creator of the namesake “curve”, proved that until the ’50s, high levels of inflation were linked to a low unemployment rate. The statistical methods used then depicted the connection as strong and stable. In the early ’70s, adherents of the Keynesian school of thought, pervading both academic circles and the overall establishment, believed that pursuing inflationary policy would raise employment and generate just enough growth to escape the economic deadlock of those times. Acting on these predictions, the Federal Reserve issued currency to unprecedented levels, while the government patched up the upsurging deficit through debt. More

What Makes a Good Life: The State, God, or Money? (Part I) How religion and the state historically shaped the search for a good life

Ion Pohoață

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 What makes a good life – state institutions, religion, or money? In this first part, I will trace the deep historical entanglement between political power and religious authority, from Saint Augustine to Karl Marx and Max Weber, setting the stage for a contemporary reflection continued in Part II. More

Central Coercive Diplomacy in the Gulf Why a strike‑forward strategy is strategically counterproductive – and how a Middle‑Power Coalition for Gulf Stability can build a Gulf Security Compact

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 In Vienna, the room is familiar: delegates, translators, carefully calibrated phrases. But the subject is anything but routine. As news of strikes and counter‑strikes ripples across screens, the nuclear file – the one issue that can turn a regional war into a global panic – returns to the centre of the agenda. The head of the world’s nuclear watchdog warns that military action around nuclear facilities is uniquely dangerous. Outside the conference hall, markets price war risk, shipping companies reroute, and Gulf capitals measure how quickly a confrontation they did not choose could move onto their territory. More

Why the Intelligentsia’s Drift to the Left Ends in a Shipwreck

Ionuț Bălan

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 I am referring to the intellectuals who made their political début as more or less notorious dissidents before the Romanian Revolution and were fully acclaimed as such during the ’90s and early 2000s. Many became flagbearers of the “anti-corruption battle” in the recent years, alongside with their disciples. When asked for their stance, they all declare themselves “rightists” or at least reject the “leftist” political option, after the criminal experiment of the Communist totalitarianism. More

The Economic Consequences of the War in the Middle East

Silviu Cerna

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 The war in the Middle East has already had a strong impact on energy prices, particularly those of oil and natural gas. It is therefore reasonable to expect that inflationary pressures will intensify in the period ahead. Beyond these inflationary effects, however, everything ultimately depends on how the conflict evolves – and on that point the greatest uncertainty prevails. More

Romania Leads Europe: Pensions Cover Costs Better Than Anywhere Else

Dan Pălăngean

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Romania stands first among a group of only four EU countries where pensions exceed spending, according to a German study published on datapulse.de. With a positive ratio of 21%, Romania surpassed Czechia (+18%), Poland (+4%), and Spain (+3%). In context, two other countries are close to breaking even (Bulgaria, with -2%, and Denmark, with -7%), while all the rest are beyond the -10% threshold. More

From a World of Wars to a War of the Worlds

Mihnea Alexandru Ciocan

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 The decades following the 2nd World War witnessed different armed conflicts scattered around the globe, varying in magnitude and consequences on the geopolitical stage. To name a few: the war in Korea, Indo-Pakistan war, the Vietnam War, Israel and war with the United Arab Republic, the Algerian war of Independence, the Cyprus division, the Falkland conflict, Iran vs. Iraq and so on. When we consider the term war in its broad meaning, we refer to an open armed conflict between two or more countries or a serious civil war that engulfs a country or large part of it, not guerilla fighting at low intensity in various provinces or separatist movements like ETA or IRA. It is true that the spatial distribution was not homogenous in mathematical terms, but it had nevertheless a wide dispersion. Moreover, another fundamental distinction must be made. From the point of compulsory conflict there are wars of necessity and wars of choice. The first one is clear; it is an action that must be taken in order to defend against or something. Can be taken pre-event (preemptive strike) or post-event (retaliation). It is easier to explain and to legitimize. On the other hand, war of choice is a bit harder to categorize and to legitimize. It can have multiple triggers, some real, some covering other interests. More

Security and Black Sea Strategy: Romania at the Crossroads of NATO and Regional Stability Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 3

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has recast the Black Sea from a perceived strategic periphery into one of the most contested maritime and hybrid theatres in the Euro-Atlantic space. In this environment, Romania has shifted from the margins of European security debates to a pivotal position within NATO’s eastern-flank posture. This article examines Romania’s evolving defence and deterrence architecture, NATO’s recalibrated force posture, and the regional security complex shaped by Russia’s militarisation of Crimea, Ukraine’s constrained maritime access, Moldova’s structural fragility, and Turkey’s balancing behaviour. It situates Romania’s Black Sea strategy at the intersection of military, energy, and hybrid-security dynamics, drawing on NATO strategic documents, national defence planning materials, cyber-security reporting, and Eurobarometer survey data. The central argument is that Romania’s long-term stability depends on a coherent Black Sea strategy anchored in credible deterrence, resilient institutions, and proactive regional leadership that integrates security, energy, and governance agendas rather than treating them as discrete policy silos. The article’s policy contribution is to argue that Romania should prioritise a sequenced agenda that links naval modernisation, hybrid-resilience measures, and energy-security investments within a single Black Sea framework, enabling a shift from a reactive frontline posture to a more strategic regional role. Unlike most existing Black Sea security studies, it advances an integrated, Romania-centred perspective that connects defence posture, offshore infrastructure, and institutional capacity. More

Between Futures and Fields: Ideas in Motion at ICBE 2026

Octavian-Dragomir Jora  Vlad I. Roșca

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 For several years now, the International Conference on Business Excellence has become more than a platform for presenting research – it is increasingly a space where disciplines intersect and where emerging ideas are tested against real-world complexity. The recent 2026 edition, hosted in Bucharest between March 26 and 28, reaffirmed this role by bringing together scholars exploring the evolving relationships between business, society, technology, and governance. More

The Epiphany of a Multipolar World at Davos

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has, over the past decades, cultivated a reputation as the premier gathering of the global elite, as an event where one must be present and visible to count among them and to remain attuned to the great trends shaping the world. Alongside the annual meeting, the Forum has also become a prolific producer of influential reports and research, such as the Global Risks Report, which have become essential reading for decision-makers across the globe. More

When the Social and the Political Suffocate the Economy A doctrinal analysis of how social pressure and political intervention distort the mechanisms of the market economy, with an eye towards post-1990s Romania

Ion Pohoață

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 The first thing we must understand is that the economy does not exist in isolation. It exists only in relation to society and, at the same time, is inevitably shaped by politics. Put differently, it is the social sphere that confers or withholds the mark of relevance upon economic activity. The economy’s mission is to provide the conditions for a good life. Its role is instrumental, never an end in itself. More

Europe’s Existential Audit: The Draghi and Letta Reports as a Blueprint for Structural Reinvention

Narciz Bălășoiu

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 In 2024, two landmark reports – Mario Draghi’s “The Future of European Competitiveness” and Enrico Letta’s “Much More Than a Market”- delivered the most comprehensive diagnosis of the European Union’s structural deficiencies since the Delors Report of 1989. Read together, they constitute an existential warning: without deep reform of its innovation ecosystem, single market architecture, and investment capacity, Europe risks permanent relegation to the periphery of global economic power. More

France’s Ruthless Reinvention: Mid-Tournament Mastery and Agile Management Lessons

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 I’m penning these lines smack in the middle of the 2026 Six Nations, after the first three rounds, and I’ll say it without hesitation: France will clinch the title detached, for the second year running and the twentieth time in history. Raising the stakes? They’ll achieve the Grand Slam. And bolder still: France will sweep the Six Nations with a Grand Slam and maximum points: 25. There are two more rounds to play at the moment of writing, but miracle would it be if this didn’t happen. More

Bucharest – A Guide to Streets with “Healthy” Proletarian Origins

Ionuț Bălan

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 What do street names have to do with the way Romanians understand capitalism today? More than one might expect. Long before textbooks, statistics, or political slogans, streets were the first public lesson in how an economy works. They recorded who built, who traded, who took risks, who invested, who created value. More

Bulgaria Adopted the Euro, Romania Needs It Too Part II – The Romanian Expectative

Silviu Cerna

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Like other EU countries, Romania committed to adopting the single European currency. At the time of accession to the EU (2007), no precise date was set for this. In the years before and immediately following, however, there were projections and indicative deadlines circulated by the authorities. The initial deadline, presented as an unofficial objective, was the period 2012-2014. Subsequently, the authorities repeatedly postponed this deadline: 2015, 2019, 2024-2026, and now, it seems, sine die. This delay shows that the adoption of the euro was never taken seriously by the Romanian authorities. More

Romania, Least Money for Health Among EU Member States

Dan Pălăngean

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Romania ranked second to last among EU member states in terms of the percentage of GDP allocated to health, according to data published by Eurostat. With a value of only 5.71%, Romania edged out Luxembourg (5.67%) and placed below Hungary (6.37%), Ireland (6.58%), Poland (7.14%) or Croatia (7.15%). More

Cigarettes After War – Where Symbolism Matches Consumption

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Humanity has consumed tobacco since the dawn of times, but it took two cataclysmic global conflicts to elevate the cigarette into a defining symbol of modern life. What began as a marginal indulgence soon became both a weapon of comfort and a vehicle of mass addiction. So, beware, reading might cause dependence! More

Pension Reform and OECD Accession: Sustainability vs. Social Pressure Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 2

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Romania’s pension system sits at the intersection of fiscal strain and social obligation. While OECD accession demands transparent, actuarially balanced reforms, domestic politics elevate short-term adequacy over long-term sustainability. Pension spending already exceeds 9% of GDP and is projected to reach 12% by 2035, driven by demographic ageing and indexation pressures. This article analyses Romania’s three-pillar structure, assesses the 2024 recalculation law’s fiscal impact, and compares sustainability benchmarks under OECD and EU standards. Using data from Eurostat, CNPP, the European Commission Ageing Report 2024, and Eurobarometer 103 (Spring 2025), it argues that sequenced, credible reform can reconcile fiscal prudence with social fairness. More

Alpha Dogs on the Catwalk

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Davosian Man. These words do not express a consecrated anthropological concept; rather, it is an exploration. We are not speaking of a missing link from some prehistorical past, but rather of a relic of the future. This Man legitimizes himself, in a burst of ad hoc anthropology, as a resident of a suite of concentric worlds: the world of those who attend the plenipotentiary and masterminded environment of the World Economic Forum; then the world of those concerned with the purposes and mechanisms of the globe, including those situated at a greater distance than those who pay the minimum USD 25,000 “socializing fee” to attend the respectable conclave; finally, the whole world, which is ever born from the interplay of representations and resolutions produced by those who make the world revolve around their own axes. In this sense, we are all “Davosians,” even if we do not chat directly with the trendsetters but only with their ideas or, more passively, submit ourselves to them. More

The End of the Long 20th Century

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Historian Eric Hobsbawm borrowed from the Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg the concept of the long 19th century, a 125-year period from the French Revolution in 1789 to the First World War in 1914. The period is marked by the Enlightenment, the rise of national movements, and the rise of European empires amid the Industrial Revolution. I would suggest that 2025 or perhaps 2022 was the end of a long 20th century, marked by ideological conflicts between states, bipolarity, and eventual American hegemony, and now the end of the postwar order. Perhaps future historians will place this end during the financial crisis of 2008, or at the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a member of the UN Security Council, and the strong economic response of the West, which shook global financial and energy flows. Or perhaps Trump’s first or second term, with his iconoclasm towards the traditional priorities and instruments of institutional American power in the world, will be declared the beginning of a new era. What is certain is that we are witnessing the gradual return of an anarchic global system, increasingly focused on unilateral actions by powerful states and in which the completion of secular trends in the fiscal, technological and investment fields is rewriting the map of power on the world map. More

Has John Smith “Crafted” the Industrial Revolution? The Hidden Connection between Family Names and Economic Growth

Tudor Bălan

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 The Industrial Revolution unambiguously came about in the 18th century. Nevertheless, those who set the scene for this radical twist in economic thinking and industrial capacity were a contingent of artisans, labourers, merchants, lenders and workshop owners. This composite class, predominantly living in the vicinity of towns and cities, gradually thickened for centuries, before achieving critical mass. In countries most prosperous nowadays, this up-and-coming class evolved either by organic means, seemingly through a background process, or was deliberately nurtured by rulers who acknowledged the creative role this group played. It is only natural that people hailing from developing economies, as Romanians do, ponder the question: did the lack of such a pre-modern proto-capitalist elite in some places lead to the current economic divide between nations? More

Rock of Ages: Gibraltar in the UK Enclaves and exclaves – surrounded, not surrendered: the continuous history, diplomacy and economy of territorial discontinuities [2]

Ruxandra Ioniță

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Gibraltar is a rocky promontory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, territorially a British Overseas Territory under British sovereignty since 1713. Sovereignty was ceded to the United Kingdom by Spain in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, although Spain argues that the Treaty transferred only the city, the castle, the port, and the fortifications, not the surrounding isthmus. Since then, Gibraltar has remained under British administration, maintaining border tensions with Spain. During the Franco period (1969-1985), the border fence was completely closed, isolating the Rock; it was not reopened until 1985, just one year before Spain’s accession to the EEC. More

Too Small to Matter, Too Rich to Ignore: An Unopinionated View on Monaco Enclaves and exclaves – surrounded, not surrendered: the continuous history, diplomacy and economy of territorial discontinuities [1]

Andrei Șaguna

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 What’s approximately two square kilometres in surface area, has its latitude sitting between the 43rd and the 44th parallels north, and boasts one impressive collection of “liquid”? You would not be wrong in inferring that the answer might be one-thirty-thousandth of Lake Michigan. But since today we are not here to discuss Great Lakes, but the small miracle that is Monaco, the comparison is less absurd than it first appears. In all seriousness, for what Monaco lacks in freshwater, it more than compensates in liquidity. Capital, rather than geography, defines its depth. Money flows where territory ends; influence accumulates where size should impose limits. It has it all: wealth, speed, spectacle; races that turn streets into circuits, events that compress global attention into a few luminous days, and a concentration of capital that seems almost gravitational. More

2026 Begins with a Lag

Ionuț Bălan

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 This is not an illusion; it pertains to the mechanisms of the economy. The effects of political and fiscal decisions do not play out instantaneously. A significant share of the measures adopted in 2025 lead to a tighter economic framework, raise costs, compress margins, and deepen uncertainty. But their real effects have not yet fully manifested into the economy. They are still working their way through the system. This is because they are not transmitted directly; instead, they are filtered through people’s expectations. And people, more often than not, do not react immediately. Decisions are not made at the moment when the impulse is released, but rather later, when the signal has settled and caution turns into behaviour. More

Bulgaria Adopted the Euro, Romania Needs It Too Part I – The Bulgarian Experience

Silviu Cerna

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Bulgaria adopted the European currency on January 1, 2026. Although it took place overnight, this historic event is the culmination of a long process of assimilation of the elements of European civilization. In the monetary field, this process began back in 1881, when the Autonomous Principality of Bulgaria established the bimetallic monetary system (gold, silver), which existed at that time in the “Latin Monetary Union” (France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg). The national currency was called “leva”, which means “lion” in Bulgarian and comes, like the name of the Romanian currency – “leu” –, from the Dutch thalers (leeuwendaalder), which circulated in Eastern Europe in the 17th–18th centuries. The first Bulgarian national currency had a nominal value equal to that of the French franc, like the currencies of all other countries that adopted the Latin monetary system. More

Romania, Lowest Share of Young People Work and Study at the Same Time among EU Member States

Dan Pălăngean

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 In 2024, Romania had lowest share of young people work and study at the same time among EU member states, according to a study published by Eurostat. With a ratio of only 2.4%, Romania was placed significantly under Greece (6.0%) and Croatia (6.4%) and far from the European average of 25,4%. More

From Rhine to Ruin: The Dry Ages of Europe

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Europe’s driest periods in over 5 centuries rampage through the continent, with experts warning that even worse is in sight. This prompts concerns regarding water security and looming shortages, as many sources are depleting or externally dependent. More

Between Brussels and Bucharest: Fiscal Reform, Austerity, and the Politics of Legitimacy in Romania Policy Brief, 2026 Series: “Romania at a Crossroads” – Episode 1

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 Romania’s fiscal position has deteriorated significantly since 2019, culminating in a budget deficit of 9.3% of GDP in 2024 — the highest in the EU —, while public debt is rising and projected to exceed 60% of GDP by 2026 amid slowing growth and structural rigidities. This article assesses the arithmetic of Romania’s fiscal challenge (deficit, debt, revenue/expenditure mix), situates it within the broader EU context (peer countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland; EU-27 average), and examines the politics of legitimacy surrounding consolidation. Using data from Eurostat, the Romanian Fiscal Council, and Eurobarometer 103 (Spring 2025), it argues that without credible reform of both spending and revenue, and a transparent communication strategy, fiscal adjustment may undermine social trust and legitimacy. The article closes with a recommended sequencing of measures that protect investment and social floors while restoring credibility. More

“Sense and Sensibility”: Forward-Looking Back The exceptional economy of 2025

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 The year 2025 can be understood economically not only through its conjunctural indicators, but also through the fertile tension between “sense” and “sensibility”, remarkable, in their distilled, essentialized embodiments, as science and art. By the way, we just celebrated a quarter of a millennium since the birth of Jane Austen, the author-global-phenomenon, who treated and titled, in her debut novel (Sense and Sensibility), the intellect-affection duality, active in each of us and in all our societies. Beyond routine-becoming boom-bust cycles, there is an “exceptional economy”, in which value is not generated linearly, but through ruptures at the level of clichés and taboos. The process is not always happy – the “brain” conceives evil, and the “heart” does not thwart rage. However, science/Truth and art/Beauty – with a quasi-quantum shrewdness – converge in the compass of the Good. More