https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/911 Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:11:41 GMT 2026-09-08T19:11:41Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3899 Between the Belt and Road and the Indo-Pacific: Lithuania's strategic reorientation Krulichová, Zuzana This paper examines the evolving dynamics of Lithuania's engagement with China's Belt and Road Initiative, analysing how Lithuania has navigated the intersection of economic opportunities, security concerns, and value-based foreign policy. Lithuania's initial participation in the BRI framework was a pragmatic attempt to diversify trade partnerships, attract investment, and enhance global connectivity. However, when these expectations failed to materialise, and concerns arose regarding the strategic implications of Chinese interest in key infrastructure, the BRI was increasingly framed not as an economic opportunity but as a potential security threat. Although this development is consistent with other CEE countries, Lithuania stands out as a small state that has coupled its reassessment of China policy with the adoption of an Indo-Pacific strategy, thereby embracing a competing framework to conceptualise regional order. Drawing on an inductive analysis of government documents and interviews, this paper demonstrates how Lithuania exercised its agency by shifting from engagement with the BRI to alignment with like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific. The findings suggest that Lithuania's case demonstrates how small states can adapt foreign policy through pragmatic risk management and values-based positioning. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3899 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3898 Surprise, ontological security, and Russia's imperialist cyberwarfare Kolodii, Roman Why did Russia launch cyberwarfare against Ukraine well before the ground invasion, thereby abandoning the advantage of a surprise cyber-kinetic strike? Using ontological security theory, I argue that through this decision, the Kremlin sought to reaffirm Russia's imperialist self-identity by demonstrating Ukraine's alleged lack of sovereignty. The premature cyberattacks forced Kyiv to rely heavily on Western state and non-state actors and adopt radical technical and legal measures limiting its cyber-sovereignty. From the Kremlin's perspective, these moves could illustrate in practice Russia's imperialist claims about a weak and externally dependent Ukraine and ease the West and other actors into recognizing Russia's historical justification for the impending attack and its resurgence as a great power. Doing so was crucial before the kinetic strike, to assuage the Kremlin's anxiety regarding the invasion's potential to secure Russia in its great power identity and ensure its external recognition as such. This ultimately explains the earlier timing of the Russian cyberaggression. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3898 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3881 Preventing Radicalisation, or Forcing Ideological Consent? Crises, Uncertainty Reduction and Collective Identity Negotiation in Collaborative Communities of Online Third Spaces Vochocová, Lenka; Rosenfeldová, Jana With regard to the recent accumulation of crisis events in Europe, scholars stress the potential of online spaces to reduce people's uncertainty through collective identity formation, providing their members with emotional support and recognition. However, polarisation and radicalisation are mentioned as possible negative consequences of online community formation in crisis times. "Third spaces" are described as online forums where political talk emerges against the background of the primary purpose of the environment - exchanging ideas or goods and mutual support. Our article explores how the "purpose-based" collective identity of the participants of a parenting forum, a typical "third space," is challenged with their potentially conflicting political identities in the context of strongly polarising issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. A qualitative analysis of nearly 2,500 contributions confirms that, to a certain extent, a third space constitutes an environment of cooperation and support even during major societal crises and provides space to negotiate conflicting ideological identities. However, broader societal polarisation is reflected in the forum which clearly sets boundaries to diversity, strictly excluding opinions considered extreme or unacceptable by the majority. Proponents of minority opinions are thus pushed to the margins, where they may radicalise. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3881 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3879 Does finance change the taste for redistribution? Horváth, Roman; Kořínek, Matěj; Weill, Laurent This paper investigates whether financial development is associated with people's preferences for redistribution. Although a large literature examines the effects of finance on growth and inequality, much less is known about its influence on the political demand for redistribution. Using individual-level data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study, we estimate the relation between financial development and preferences for income equality. We find no significant average effect of financial development on redistributive demand. However, this aggregate neutrality masks significant individual-level heterogeneity. We find that financial development is associated with lower support for redistribution among men, married individuals, and right-leaning respondents. In contrast, the effect is significantly positive for more educated individuals. These results suggest that financial development may alter the composition of pro-redistribution coalitions even when average preferences remain stable. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14178/3879 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z