Europe, 2022: Democracy in the Shadow of War

The year 2022 will probably go down in history as a year of great violence, of utmost international tension, and of considerable global uncertainty. Not only did Russia’s war against Ukraine bring back mass killings and the specter of a nuclear confrontation on the top of the European agenda. As further evidence of irreversible climate and environmental damage accumulates, the tragic events of a year of war are unlikely to be more than a foretaste of the coming century’s challenges.

The immense global risks call for a renewal of political practices. The integration of mutually interdependent local, national, and regional communities in a global political network is no grand design for the future; rather, it is a fact of the present. Whether this integration will eventually prove destructive or constructive, conducive or detrimental to life and autonomy, largely depends on our capacity to understand, acknowledge, and manage common responsibilities.

Continental organizations can play a key role in this process. Without access to qualitative cross-border political information, however, a continental citizenry as fragmented as Europe’s cannot even start to acknowledge the common challenges it faces. Developing a genuine mutual understanding requires transcending national communicational spheres, taking into account local, regional, and national dynamics alike, and going beyond a Brussels-centric view to appreciate European politics in its diversity.

It is in this spirit that, over the course of the past two years, BLUE’s authors have strived to contribute to a better understanding of European politics. For the first time, the present issue compiles in a single volume summary analyses of all major regional and national elections in the European Union and its neighborhood over the course of a calendar year. Written by academic experts from all over the EU and beyond, accompanied by a wealth of exclusive graphs and maps, meant to be understandable by both interested citizens and researchers, these texts together compose a unique panorama of the political year 2022.

BLUE’s editorial team wishes you an informative and enjoyable read.