Assoc Professor in Comparative Central and East European Politics, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Personal take on politics, Eastern Europe and suburbia. https://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muwg2b4dbs22Strange to be transiting South Moravia by train; it’s a kind of home-from-home. I know all the places. Tempted to get off.07 Sep 2026 11:34 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwg2b4dbs22https://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muwenezsec2xNext time I need to get to get Krakow from Friedrichshafen I will hire a bloody airship. #ecpr #ecprgc #ecprgc26 [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Sep 2026 11:09 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwenezsec2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muwdmx5djs2xTravelling to #ecpr #ecprgc #epcrgc26 on train from Vienna to Krakow. Car 350 where I have my seat mysteriously absent. “Find an unreserved seat” they say. There are none. I’ve ended up in the restaurant car and will be here ordering occasional Polish railway food for the next five hours.07 Sep 2026 10:51 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwdmx5djs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muukiafuw22aHmm, seems Sergei Brin is the Count Zeppelin de nos jours. But that’s still only half the size of the Hindenburg - or perhaps less. https://oaklandside.org/2026/09/02/airship-over-oakland-pathfinder-1-lta-research/06 Sep 2026 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muukiafuw22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muslhwgxqs2hOn holiday in Friedrichshafen I am surprised to see a bust of Kaiser Wilhelm - but it’s Kaiser Wilhelm I, so I guess that OK? Count Zeppelin is still a local hero and gets a memorial obelisk, although the Zeppelin Museum doesn’t duck the military funding and later Nazi propaganda use.05 Sep 2026 23:01 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muslhwgxqs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mun6ai6wks2yambassador to the UK Václav Bartuška looking back over a career as a student activist, investigative journalist and energy diplomat. Sadly Czech Radio’s excellent international sr ice in English and other langs are set to be axed. https://english.radio.cz/vaclav-bartuska-revolution-was-too-velvety-8896348?fbclid=IwVERFWAUGpcVwZG9mBWZkaWQWUNs4I1BoDzpJIQSnDYHYKUeexBM2_mV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR4VaLg6qvSdETFjsiq5n6M2mTe4cw4DfXW5JtVmYtUTpQjjaskiiNYNTsaYww_aem_IibQ_Q6Rr8YAhlwtNVdyvg03 Sep 2026 19:20 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mun6ai6wks2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3muatiuzn622lI think we’ve realised in the present. It’s reminding myself that it is actually real not some adaptation of a Phillip K Dick novel that I struggle with. [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Aug 2026 21:36 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3muatiuzn622lhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mtewq46cec2vYesterday’s nightmare scenario has horrible habit of becoming tomorrow’s reality: US-Iran conflict in Strait of Hormuz wargamed for years. Here a more terrifying one: simultaneous aggressions by Russia/China. Small Cz European Values thinktank gets big mention. https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2026/08/18/wargaming-nightmare-scenarios/18 Aug 2026 19:19 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtewq46cec2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mtdul4vfs227Bálint Magyar’s new substack, building on his innovative thinking about post-communist regimes (and beyond with Bálint Madlovics, launchs with a post about the patronalistic self-enrichment of Trump. Worth subscribing https://postcommunistregimes.substack.com/p/make-trump-rich-again?r=1m1g4u&utm_medium=ios18 Aug 2026 09:08 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtdul4vfs227https://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mt5c7id73k2mhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj36gyxv2lyo15 Aug 2026 18:24 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt5c7id73k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mt22izwvxk2cGood post-election post-mortem from the NS: Count Binface is the (unexpected) vehicle for anti-Reform voters, the role taken by the Greens or Welsh nationalists in other contests. Some voters, even those disliking Farage, feel patronised by parody-only option https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-politics-show/id630596898?i=100078326404314 Aug 2026 11:28 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt22izwvxk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mszklwauj22nFarage has dodged a bullet. Misjudged the resignation, poured effort into mobilising his base giving up on Manchester mayoralty. Got exactly vote national polls would predict in Clacton. Faces same questions about evading declaring crypto donation. Binface the real winner - perhaps the real story [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Aug 2026 06:43 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mszklwauj22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mswdei5nwk2zMy sense is that the Binface phenomenon - fired up by the unusual circumstances of Clacton - has opened forms of anti-political mobilisation other than abstention, angry populism and contentless insignificant joke candidates. [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Aug 2026 23:56 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mswdei5nwk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3mswcelnwjs2h“… Binface becomes more than a satirical candidate (..) uses humour, symbolism and theatrical gimmicks to transform political satire into a form of democratic communication” I agree - and wonder where, after gaining thousands of real (protest) votes, it all goes next https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2026/07/count-binface-clacton-election-memes12 Aug 2026 23:38 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mswcelnwjs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3msw7ypoklc2sBohužel ani jeden český novinář, zdá se, neudělal rozhovor s Hrabětem Odpadkáčem – a to v zemi Haška a Járy Cimrmana. [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Aug 2026 22:55 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3msw7ypoklc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/drseanhanley.bsky.social/post/3msuzjmr26s2oThis doesn’t quite square with the awesome power and might of the US he and Pete Hegseth boast of… [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Aug 2026 11:27 +0000at://did:plc:clngdfugj7vhpywl23425oux/app.bsky.feed.post/3msuzjmr26s2o