ABSTRACT How do small states with limited capacity engage in a complex multilateral environment? This paper uses a case study approach to address this question, based on a thorough analysis of policy documents and more than 70 interviews with practitioners from 9 different countries and sub‐state regions (Finland, Flanders [Belgium], the Netherlands, Slovenia, Catalonia [Spain], Denmark, Liechtenstein, Scotland [United Kingdom] and Singapore). The paper gathers unique insights into both the policy and practical side of diplomatic strategies in multilateral settings of a relevant cross‐section of small multilateral players. The paper finds that small states primarily tend to adapt their diplomatic strategy in a changing global landscape based on thematic specialization and prioritization and deploy diverse diplomatic instruments to achieve their goals. The paper identifies a number of diplomatic instruments to shed light on how small players apply and sequence these instruments to formulate an overarching thematic strategy to more effectively take part in multilateral processes. Based on this analysis, the paper presents an analytic approach to analyzing the strategies of small states along three dimensions: substantive, procedural and temporal.

ABSTRACT Hybrid warfare (HW) scholarship acknowledges the phenomenon's contextual and temporal specificity, yet its dominant conceptual framing has generated a literature largely centred on identifying and categorising hybrid activities. This focus has left the contextual vulnerabilities that enable hybrid threats (HTs) and shape an adversary's selection of tools and methods underexplored. Addressing this gap, the paper offers a comprehensive analysis of Russia's engagement in the Western Balkans (WB), guided by three core questions: to whom, where and why is the HT directed in this particular environment? It finds that how local societies perceive an external actor's engagement (domestic response) is integral to public understanding of what constitutes an HT and affects whether and how an adversary engages in HW. In the WB, affinity with Russia is a key factor shaping the domestic response to Russia's interference in domestic processes, enabling Russia to pursue a sophisticated and impactful range of activities with regional effects, which has turned it into an HW frontline. From a policy practice perspective, a comprehensive contextual analysis that uncovers what makes certain HW practices effective provides a necessary foundation for developing an appropriate set of countermeasures to alter domestic responses within an HW deterrence approach focused on societal resilience.

ABSTRACT This article develops a philosophical framework for understanding transgenerationality as a foundational concept for intergenerational justice. Drawing on social ontology and the philosophy of action, it introduces the notion of transgenerational civitas —a temporally extended community composed of past, present and future generations. The paper argues that transgenerational actions, characterised by epistemic and agentic asymmetries, require a diachronic conception of justice that moves beyond reciprocity. By integrating ontological commitments with normative reasoning, the article proposes a model of vertical justice capable of addressing long‐term collective responsibilities and mitigating the populist risks inherent in democratic systems.

ABSTRACT This paper will deal with intergenerational justice, focusing on the relationship between coexisting generations. The first section will be reserved for some conceptual clarifications on the concept of justice, on the distinction between age groups and birth cohorts, and on the specificity of age as a category for apportioning benefits and resources. Then, I will take up the issue of what is the analytical unit of justice across overlapping generations: age groups or birth cohorts. I shall try to disentangle the alternative between age groups and birth cohorts, on the one hand, and that between age groups at a snapshot and the whole life view, on the other. After a discussion of the latter alternative, it will become clear that also the whole life view will allow only a simultaneous comparison of age groups at a definite moment of time, though in the context of a distributive theory considering the whole life and its different phases. At the end, the age groups turn out to be the units of justice between overlapping generations in all three dimensions of justice. But while age groups are specifically appropriate for relational and political justice, in the case of distributive fairness, the comparison between simultaneous segments of different age groups should be assessed in the context of a distributive theory justifying the differential distributions at different ages. Any such theory refers to the temporality of human life, with different needs and capabilities at different stages of human life. I shall finally illustrate my age‐sufficiency principle that I deem appropriate for distributive comparisons between simultaneous age segments considered as different age stages of human life.

ABSTRACT This study examines the institutionalization of consultant reliance within the United Nations, revealing how consultants—originally intended for short‐term, specialized roles—have come to occupy core organizational functions. Rather than a temporary solution, consultant employment has become embedded in daily operations, producing a system resistant to reform. Introducing the concept of “institutionalized decoupling,” the study analyzes how contradictions between the UN's public commitments and operational realities are reproduced and sustained across three interconnected levels. Drawing on interviews with 41 UN personnel, we trace how this decoupling is actively produced and sustained across three levels: macro‐institutional funding volatility that enforces a logic of managerialism; meso‐organizational fragmentation that enables regulatory arbitrage; and micro‐individual managerial discretion that leverages the UN's symbolic power to extract workforce commitment. By elucidating these mechanisms, the study contributes to organization studies in global governance and debates on IO performance, demonstrating how this systemic reliance on contingent labor undermines the organizational independence and epistemic authority of the international civil service.

ABSTRACT This article analyses Thailand's perceptions of the European Union (EU) as an actor in the Indo‐Pacific, based on interviews with 13 government officials and foreign policy influencers conducted under the EU in the Indo‐Pacific (EUIP) Jean Monnet Network. It examines how Thai elites interpret the EU's priorities, geopolitical relevance and the implications of the Russia–Ukraine war for Europe's role in the region. Thailand views the EU positively—as a standard setter, policy model and constructive economic partner—but not as a leading geopolitical actor. Sustainable and inclusive prosperity and the green transition are seen as key areas for cooperation, while digital governance and connectivity hold growing potential. Security and defence, by contrast, remain peripheral. Officials assess the EU's importance more highly than influencers, reflecting closer institutional familiarity. The article situates these findings within the evolving Indo‐Pacific order, arguing that the EU's influence in Asia depends less on hard power than on relational and regulatory engagement. It concludes with recommendations to deepen relationship‐based cooperation, leverage ASEAN centrality and prioritize ‘low politics’ domains that yield long‐term strategic value.

ABSTRACT Lead poisoning affects one in three children globally, with large but neglected impacts on health and education. One important source of exposure is the use of lead as a pigment in the form of lead chromates, in paints, plastics, and even food. Lead chromates are toxic and safe alternatives exist: Its continued use is effectively prohibited in the European Union and the United Kingdom and is highly restricted in other high‐income countries. In this paper, we present new data documenting the global trade in lead chromates. Exports are dominated by companies based in India, but we also show significant ongoing exports from high‐income countries including the United States, Canada, and Spain, despite these countries placing bans or strong restrictions on use in their own territories. Many exports go to countries with low capacity to regulate its end use and prevent highly hazardous applications. While the harm posed by any particular shipment or actor depends on the end use of the exported lead chromates, which is not possible to determine, the volume of exports from rich to poor countries could be sufficient to poison hundreds of thousands of children. We conclude with recommendations to policymakers to end the detrimental and unnecessary use of lead chromates.

ABSTRACT The presence of transboundary rivers is a prominent feature of South Asia. Major rivers such as the Ganga, Indus, and Brahmaputra traverse multiple countries, creating complex interdependencies among the riparian nations. However, the transboundary river basin governance mechanisms such as bilateral treaties remain inadequate to manage these resources amid emerging issues such as climate change, glacial retreat, water pollution, groundwater depletion, and rising irrigation demand. At the same time, these treaties remain critical instruments of regional cooperation and cannot be dismissed as obsolete. Against this backdrop, the study examines the relevance and effectiveness of existing bilateral treaties on shared rivers in addressing emerging challenges. A comparative analysis of the major treaties in South Asia reveals that transboundary river management mechanisms often lack critical provisions required to mitigate contemporary issues. Expanding populations, accelerated water withdrawal for irrigation, glacial melt, water pollution, and the over‐extraction of water from shared aquifers are some of the pressing challenges that existing treaties do not sufficiently address. Finally, the study recommends incorporating provisions that consider these contemporary issues to enhance governance of transboundary rivers in South Asia effectively. By doing so, riparian countries can better manage shared water resources in South Asia.

ABSTRACT This article examines Brazil's External Financing Commission (COFIEX), a centralized body that approves all public‐sector external borrowing and exemplifies efforts in middle‐income democracies to reconcile fiscal restraint with the demands of strategic public investment. Drawing on original analysis of project‐level data from 1980 to 2022, the study shows that COFIEX has successfully enforced Brazil's conservative stance on external debt, maintaining public external debt below 10% of GDP through most of the past two decades. However, its capacity to act as a driver of development finance has been constrained by institutional risk aversion, rigid fiscal thresholds, and political incentives favoring highly visible infrastructure over less politically rewarding sectors such as sanitation. Despite these limitations, the article highlights COFIEX's important role in structuring Brazil's relationships with bilateral and multilateral lenders, whose technical expertise reduces project risk and can help crowd in private investment. The Brazilian experience underscores the trade‐offs inherent in centralized debt governance under fiscal orthodoxy, illustrating how institutions like COFIEX prioritize fiscal stability even when developmental needs remain unmet. The article contributes to broader debates on global development finance, showing how institutional design and bureaucratic practice mediate the relationship between fiscal discipline and external investment in federal middle‐income democracies.

ABSTRACT Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) policies seem to represent a pathbreaking shift from voluntary measures to binding rules for global supply chains. Yet these policies endorse a “smart‐mix” of voluntary and mandatory measures, and risk over‐reliance on questionable private‐sector assurances. In this paper, we ask how businesses framed these private/voluntary efforts in the face of looming regulation, focusing on the EU's new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Through a systematic coding of policy positions, we find businesses (1) using voluntary initiatives to delegitimize mandatory measures , (2) seeking to institutionalize voluntary norms , (3) pushing for private assurances to signify legal compliance , or (4) endorsing mandatory measures to protect the competitive advantage of sustainability leaders. While frames (1) and (4) shaped the debate, we argue that frames (2) and (3) are more fully reflected in the final text of the Directive. We explore both theoretical and practical implications.