In 2025, the world crossed a threshold. Economic security, democratic governance, and geopolitical competition ceased to be parallel policy domains and instead converged into a single, defining challenge for democratic societies in the shifting global order. For European democracies, resilience was no longer a matter of aspiration, but of survival.
It is against this backdrop that the Center for the Study of Democracy continued its mission: to bridge evidence and decision-making - translating data into policy, research into reform, and diagnosis into implementation.
Nowhere was the link between research and impact more evident than in CSD’s work on sanctions and energy dependence. Our analyses exposed how continued reliance on Russian fossil fuels undermines Ukraine’s independence and Europe’s strategic autonomy and sustains authoritarian aggression. By documenting sanctions evasion mechanisms and quantifying their economic effects, CSD contributed directly to policy shifts - including Czechia’s decision to finally phase out imports of Russian crude oil - and intensified pressure for compliance with EU commitments across Central Europe, India, and Turkey.
The expansion of our Energy and Climate Security Risk Index revealed widening competitiveness vulnerabilities in Europe: the green transition and economic sovereignty are inseparable. The Index’s findings informed high-level policy debates in Washington, Brussels, and Sofia, and reinforcing the need for coordinated but differentiated European responses.
CSD deepened its global leadership on countering state capture and strategic corruption through the Kremlin Playbook series. By applying our State Capture Assessment Diagnostics in Latin America, we demonstrated how energy monopolies, opaque procurement, and corrosive capital can hollow out democratic institutions from within and provide potent foothold for foreign malign interference. From Mexico and Central America to Argentina and Bolivia, CSD’s findings contributed to wider debates on governance reform and strengthened partnerships with civil society and reform-oriented leaders confronting governance pressures like those faced in Europe.
Democratic resilience requires more than sound economic policy—it depends on institutional integrity, rights protection, and societal resistance to manipulation. 2025 was a milestone for CSD, as we became the first EU-recognized judicial training provider in Bulgaria. This recognition reflects our decades of work strengthening justice systems, upholding the rule of law, and building professional capacity.
Our work on organized crime, hybrid threats, and foreign information manipulation further underscored the interconnected nature of today’s risks. By exposing how criminal networks intersect with state-sponsored influence operations and by supporting EU-level initiatives like the emerging European Democracy Shield, CSD helped shift the debate from awareness toward preparedness and strategic foresight.
As we look ahead, European democracies will continue to face profound challenges—and equally profound opportunities to act with decisiveness, unity, and foresight. CSD remains committed to strengthening the global defense and democracy dialogue through rigorous analysis, interdisciplinary expertise, and meaningful engagement with policymakers.
Read the CSD Annual Report 2025.
