Politics & Security

We are pleased to present Volume 15, Number 1 (2026) of Politics & Security, the peer-reviewed open-access journal of the Higher School of Security and Economics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This issue arrives at a moment of acute historical urgency: the international security environment of 2026 is defined not by the gradual evolution of familiar threats but by their simultaneous acceleration across multiple domains — philosophical, technological, geopolitical, legal, and societal. The seven contributions assembled in this volume reflect that complexity with analytical rigour and interdisciplinary reach.

The opening article by Wojciech Pac and Hubert Cyran establishes the theoretical framework for the entire issue. Drawing on the philosophy of security from Hobbes through Ulrich Beck to Yuval Noah Harari, and grounding their argument in empirical data from Polish national institutions and international bodies covering 2023–2026, the authors document a pronounced bipolarity in contemporary security perception: high subjective stability at the local level coexists with an escalation of existential fears at the geopolitical, digital, and ecological registers. Their argument that security has ceased to be a stable condition and become instead a process of continuous reconfiguration resonates across every subsequent contribution in this volume.

The geopolitical and material dimensions of contemporary insecurity are examined by Katarzyna Tamara Rud, whose article on the weaponization of interdependence challenges the prevalent assumption that the green energy transition will reduce geopolitical antagonism. Applying Herfindahl-Hirschman Index analysis to supply-chain data for lithium, cobalt, and graphite, Rud demonstrates that midstream processing concentration in critical raw materials exceeds that of petroleum during the OPEC era, with a single jurisdiction controlling between 58 and 87 percent of battery-grade material refining. This finding, situated within the interdependence theory of Keohane and Nye, compels a fundamental reassessment of energy security doctrine in the era of the green transition.

The domain of cognitive security is addressed by Herasym Dei, whose article on AI-mediated disinformation and its effects on national cognitive security examines how algorithmic information environments transform not merely the delivery but the very architecture of political reality for citizens and states. The article offers a theoretically grounded account of the mechanism by which AI-curated information ecosystems penetrate and reshape collective perception, constituting what the author terms the algorithm of insurgency — a form of non-kinetic destabilisation with measurable implications for democratic resilience.

The relationship between regime type and security outcomes is examined in a Nigerian context by Koffi Romeo Lawyerkeme and Emmanuel Tamaramiebi Timidi. Through a systematic comparative analysis of military and democratic governance periods, the authors assess the conditions under which different institutional configurations generate or undermine national security. Their findings contribute to the broader literature on governance, fragile statehood, and security sector reform in sub-Saharan Africa, offering empirically grounded conclusions of relevance to both scholars and policymakers engaged with the continent's security architecture.

Questions of constitutional governance and legal resilience are taken up by Mariya Petrova, whose article evaluates executive overreach during national security crises in the post-pandemic era. Situating emergency governance within the tension between effective crisis management and rule-of-law commitments, Petrova examines the conditions under which emergency powers become a vector of institutional erosion rather than a mechanism of legitimate state protection. The article draws comparative lessons from multiple jurisdictions and makes a timely contribution to the ongoing debate about the boundaries of executive authority in liberal democracies under stress.

A complementary perspective on constitutional principles in security governance is provided by Martín Beltrán Saucedo, Elena Anatolievna Zhizhko, and Stefanía Ávila Villaseñor, whose article analyses the practical application of constitutional principles in the Mexican accusatory criminal system. Focusing on the intersection of criminal procedure and security governance, the authors critically assess the gap between constitutional design and institutional practice, identifying structural tensions that bear on both the effectiveness of the system and the protection of individual rights.

The volume concludes with a contribution by Anton Vysotskyi on the efficacy of counter-terrorism policies in post-conflict societies. Drawing on comparative case studies of the Saudi theological rehabilitation model, the Danish Aarhus experiment, and fragmented implementation environments in Iraq, northeastern Nigeria, and the Western Balkans, Vysotskyi argues that deradicalization as conventionally practised constitutes not a restorative achievement but a managed failure — a politically negotiated equilibrium in which recidivism is contained rather than resolved and success metrics are pegged to donor priorities rather than to human security outcomes. This uncomfortable conclusion demands serious engagement from both the academic and policy communities.

Taken together, the contributions to this volume articulate a coherent thesis: security in 2026 can no longer be adequately theorised or governed through state-centric, territorially bounded frameworks. The paradigmatic shift demanded by hybrid threats, weaponized interdependence, algorithmic information environments, constitutional emergencies, and post-conflict fragility requires new conceptual tools, new institutional architectures, and new forms of scholarly and policy collaboration across disciplines and borders. Politics & Security remains committed to providing a rigorous and open-access forum for that indispensable intellectual work.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the authors for their scholarly contributions, to the members of the Editorial Board and the peer reviewers for their careful and expert assessment of manuscripts, and to our readers and partner institutions for their continued engagement with the journal. We warmly invite submissions for forthcoming issues and encourage correspondence with the editorial team at editor@politics-security.net