This introduction to the special issue on 21st century European b/orders and transborder living-spaces in times of crisis discusses contemporary dynamics of re-bordering in Europe in the course of the polycrisis. The authors argue that what was once a model of cross-border integration, in which border regions served as laboratories for multilevel governance and transborder […]
This article argues that addressing the polycrisis requires stronger approaches to systemic risk governance. The authors propose that effective governance must move beyond sector-specific responses and be guided by shared principles capable of addressing complex, interconnected challenges. They present ten principles to guide the development of systemic risk assessment and response across multiple domains: universal
Principles for Just and Effective Systemic Risk Governance Read More »
The authors advance geopsychiatry as a framework for understanding how the compounding pressures of today’s polycrisis are reshaping psychiatric vulnerabilities across communities and societies. Focusing on the emblematic and mutually reinforcing domains of wars, climate breakdown, and mass forced displacement, the authors show how geopolitical instability generates direct mental health burdens through proximal mechanisms such
Mental Health in the Time of Polycrisis: Geopolitical Determinants and Modern Psychiatry Read More »
The article synthesises findings from the 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Risks in a Changing World, identifying key areas of attention for scientific research, policy, and practice to develop a more resilient and better prepared society. The authors find that most Sendai Framework targets remain unlikely to be met by 2030, with persistent
The authors argue that the world urgently needs to build systemic risk capacity to address an unprecedented polycrisis. They explain that modern crises are unprecedented in their scale, speed, and global interconnectedness, amplified by inequality, environmental degradation, and advanced technologies. Because cascading and compounding risks now routinely overwhelm existing institutions, the authors call for a
The Urgency of Building Systemic Risk Capacity in a Polycrisis World Read More »
This article examines the geopolitical transformation of the European Union within the context of polycrisis, explaining how interconnected pressures are reshaping European governance, its adaptive capacity, and its patterns of legitimation. The analysis demonstrates that the EU has not evolved into a coherent, sovereign geopolitical actor, but rather into a more strategically adaptive and selectively
This report examines the evolving impact of digital technologies on European democracy, arguing that platforms algorithmically privilege negative and conflictual content, fragmenting shared reality into what the authors term a “fantasy-industrial complex,” while foreign control of dominant digital infrastructure exposes democratic discourse to direct and indirect interference. The report presents recommendations from fostering alternative public
This article explores digital resilience within a hypermediated polycrisis, arguing that overlapping crises are increasingly experienced through deeply interconnected digital environments that shape how people understand and respond to disruption. It highlights digital resilience as a dynamic, socially embedded process involving digital literacy, social networks, and adaptive capacities across multiple levels, and notes that marginalized
Digital Resilience Within a Hypermediated Polycrisis Read More »
The authors explore how global oil prices and geopolitical tensions are reshaping the spread of financial risk among firms worldwide. Analyzing over 1,300 publicly listed companies in 55 countries between 2016 and 2023, they find that slow-building, long-term shifts in oil prices and geopolitical instability do the most damage, embedding risk more deeply into corporate
Shock Absorbers or Amplifiers? How Do Firms Transmit Shocks in a Polycrisis Era? Read More »
This debate article examines whether polycrisis constitutes a genuinely global phenomenon by bringing together comparative political science perspectives on Africa, Latin America, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Global North. Through regional analyses, the authors find that the polycrisis narrative is a Global North construct, while many regions of the
Is Polycrisis a Global Phenomenon? Perspectives from Comparative Politics Read More »
