Analysis
Women on the Ballot, Men at the Top: What Is Electoral Equality Worth?
In Serbia's parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October 2026, political parties are once again highlighting the number of women among their candidates. Some take particular pride in the fact that women make up a majority on their lists. This is certainly worth noting, but it leaves open the question of how much influence female candidates have over party decisions and what power they will hold if elected. An OSCE report on gender equality in Serbia's National Assembly shows why this distinction cannot be reduced to an electoral percentage.
Why Do We Cheer for Violence We Watch Through a Screen?
In Tirana, rubbish bins are burning, traffic lights are being smashed and protesters are clashing with police. On social media, some viewers greet these scenes with enthusiasm. We saw similar reactions during protests in Serbia, and last year in Nepal. Why do we feel the need to see violence as proof that something is finally changing? And how willing would we be to support it if, instead of holding a phone, we were standing in front of a police cordon?
You Have the Right. But Can You Afford to Defend It?
The Constitution guarantees equality before the law, but going to court can involve costs that someone on an average income may struggle to bear. Lawyers, court fees, expert assessments, lost working days and years of waiting often determine how capable a person really is of protecting their rights. Serbia has a free legal aid system. The problem is that many people do not even know it exists, while some discover it only when it is already too late.
Serbia on the brink of what? Polarisation, political conflict and the myth of civil war
Emir Bihorac examines the political polarisation between supporters of the SNS and the student movement and argues that deep divisions do not mean Serbia is heading towards civil war, while warning of a longer-term erosion of the political process itself.
Shanghai Ranking: What Does a Rank Really Tell Us About University Quality?
The University of Belgrade’s fall below the world’s top 500 has once again raised questions about the quality of higher education. Minja Petrović examines what the Shanghai Ranking actually measures, which universities its methodology favours, and why a change in position does not necessarily mean a change in the quality of teaching or research.
Climate Change and Its Impact on the Built Heritage and the Conservation of Cultural Identity in Serbia
From floods, droughts and temperature extremes to stone erosion and soil instability, climate change is increasingly threatening immovable cultural heritage. This article examines how monitoring, modern technologies, legal protection and local communities can contribute to preserving Serbia’s cultural identity.
The World After American Dominance: Who Really Holds Power Today?
America remains a superpower, but it is no longer the only centre of global power. Financial, military, industrial and technological strength is now divided among several powers.
The Pathology of Normality: Why Normal People Do Not Need to Advertise Themselves as Normal
SDP in Novi Pazar is building its campaign around the messages “time for normality” and “human”. After almost two decades in local government, the question is no longer only what these slogans mean, but why normality and humanity are now being presented as something that needs to be politically proven.
Why the Public Demands Revenge Before Facts
After a crime, disaster or public scandal, facts arrive slowly while verdicts come quickly. Anger demands a name, a face and punishment, while the media, social networks and politicians often reward the version of events that is first to provide someone to blame.
We Worked While Sick to Reach Retirement. Then We Search for the Elixir of Youth
For years, going to work despite illness has been presented as responsibility and dedication. But the body does not recognise years of service, and retirement cannot restore the health, energy and years we spent waiting for life to begin later.
How Emotions Shape Political Choice
Voters do not assess political options only through programmes, interests and results. Fear, anger, hope and cognitive biases influence which information we notice, whom we trust and how we interpret political reality.
The Kafana as the Balkans’ Public Living Room
For centuries, politics, work, music, gossip, leisure and everyday tasks now handled by entire institutions have intersected around the kafana table. The kafana was one of the few places where society could be seen with little protocol.
Who Owns the Walls: How Hate Graffiti Turns Public Space into a Zone of Fear
Graffiti is not always just a mark on a wall. When calls for violence, nationalist messages, Nazi symbols, homophobia and the glorification of war criminals begin to dominate public space, the question is no longer about the aesthetics of a city, but about who can move through it without fear.
When Compromise Normalizes Extremism: How the Boundary of the Acceptable Shifts
Compromise makes sense when it is sought between positions that can be reconciled. When a “moderate middle” is sought between a fact and its denial, it can stop calming conflict and begin shifting the boundary of what society considers acceptable.
Climate Is Eroding History: How to Protect Serbia’s Cultural Heritage
From temperature fluctuations and flash floods to droughts and changing humidity, climate extremes are increasingly damaging monuments, archaeological sites and historic areas across Serbia. Protecting heritage therefore depends on data, local monitoring, new technologies and institutions capable of acting before damage becomes irreversible.
How Delusions Are Created: From “Srećni ljudi” to Moral Shortcuts
How confusing correlation with causation, from the moralization of poverty to judgments about character, guilt and responsibility, can produce stereotypes that over time become part of collective social thinking.
Why Bosniak Parties Are Unlikely to Decide Who Forms Serbia’s Next Government
From estimates of the Bosniak electorate and possible parliamentary seats to the political myth of the “decisive vote”: Emir Bihorac examines how much influence Bosniak parties can realistically have on the formation of Serbia’s next government.
Everything passes, only self-interest is eternal: a critique of depoliticization
A critique of a society in which political positions are declared dangerous, depoliticization is presented as a virtue, and personal interest becomes the most enduring form of political power.
From the Bloody Hand to the Museum Wall: How Protest Produces Art
From Serbia to Paris, Chile and New York, protest movements create images that outlive the moment of revolt. Later comes the struggle over their meaning, memory and ownership.
When the State Moves Behind a Screen
Digitalisation can make life easier, but when apps, passwords and internet access become unspoken conditions for exercising rights, some citizens are left dependent on others.
Signal inside analysis
Projected number of Bosniak voters in Serbia’s next parliamentary election
According to Emir Bihorac’s projection, around 67,000 Bosniak voters could participate in Serbia’s next parliamentary election. The figure represents the midpoint of the author’s estimated range and serves as the basis for calculating the possible number of parliamentary seats won by Bosniak political lists.
Open contextHousehold Internet Access
In 2025, 90.1% of households in the Republic of Serbia had an internet connection, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared with the previous year.
Open context2024 was Serbia’s warmest year since 1951
Serbia’s mean air temperature in 2024 was 13.3°C, making it the country’s warmest year since the beginning of this measurement series in 1951. The anomaly compared with the 1991–2020 average was +2.3°C. This warming trend also changes the conditions to which monuments, historic buildings and other forms of immovable cultural heritage are exposed.
Open contextOutrage Increases Willingness to Share Misinformation Without Reading It
Research published in Science found that misinformation was more likely to evoke moral outrage than content from trustworthy sources. Users were more willing to share outrage-evoking misinformation, including in cases where they had not first opened and read the content.
Open context