News and opinion

WATCH – Book launch: Catalonia, Scotland and the EU
The recording of our recent online book launch for Catalonia, Scotland and the EU: Visions of Independence and Integration is now available to watch on the Centre’s YouTube channel.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine: On the edge of NATO and the EU, too close to prying neighbours
Neven Andjelic examines Bosnia-Herzegovina, and its similarities with Ukraine, asking "could the situation get worse in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has two 'attentive' neighbours – Serbia and Croatia?"

The controversy over language in Catalan schools heats up
In this blog post, Jordi Argelaguet - Senior lecturer in Political Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - examines the recent controversy over language use in schools in Catalonia.

The territorial dimension of Kazakhstan’s protests
Kazakhstan’s nationwide protests have important territorial aspects regarding their origin, scale, presence of violence, and people’s demands.

Is colonialism over? Six decades after the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”
Ilker Gokhan Sen writes on colonialism - following the 61st anniversary of the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” - examining a number of territories and their administering states in detail, including Guam, Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

Constitutional History and the Making of the Modern World
Harshan Kumarasingham, Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh, writes about constitutional history, and the new book by Linda Colley, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional crisis: Is this time different?
As the situation in Bosnia escalates, Dr Maja Sahadžić, University of Antwerp, gives her take on the long-running constitutional crisis in the region.

Multilevel Politics, Climate and COP26
Elizabeth Bomberg reports back from COP26, stressing that the underlying message is worth repeating: substate actors are absolutely core to addressing climate change. All levels of governance – whether cooperating or competing - are needed to increase ambition and deliver the change needed.

Sovereignty and non-state territories in international football
Who gets to play? And under what name? Ramesh Ganohariti, a PhD researcher in Dublin City University and participant in the Centre on Constitutional Change summer school, reflects on why FIFA recognises some countries without independent statehood but excludes others