Category Insights

Insights, a blog published by IMPRI.

Germany at a Crossroads: The Rise of AfD and the Future of European Politics

German elections this week have once again underlined that Europe's political landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Friedrich Merz's conservatives won, but the star of the election night was Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which managed to double its support in just four years to 20.8%, emerging as the second biggest political force in the nation's parliament.

From Ideological Rigidity to Economic Realism: The Investment Evolution of Communist Strongholds

Assorted state governments have been holding investment summits, where chief ministers declare their unstinted support to new business ventures, assorted businessmen turn up to declare their investment plans for the state, and sign memoranda of understanding, hope for a paradigm shift in the local business-smothering culture floats at the venue of the summit, like an evanescent puff of perfume, the assembled scribes write up positive stories, and then, once the photographs have been taken, and the motorcades carrying visiting dignitaries have wound their way to the airport, everyone departs the site of synthetic euphoria, climbing down to their habitual elevations above the mean sea level, back to the principal occupation of humdrum survival.

Talk to Us