Florin Madalin-Nicu is an International Relations analyst at the Atlas Institute specializing in political risk and macroeconomic assessment across Europe, the Balkans, Eurasia, emphasized with bachelor’s in Kazakhstan, the Asia-Pacific, and beyond. His research focuses on economic frameworks, EU dynamics, foreign policy, and Arctic governance.
Military Realignment and the Cordon Sanitaire: EU Strategic Encirclement and the Western Balkans Security Dilemma
The EU presents its Western Balkans engagement as a partnership built on voluntary convergence and shared democratic values. The military expenditure data tells a different story, one of parallel escalation,…
Legislation Without Enforcement: The EU’s Structural Failure in the JCPOA Framework and Its Implications for Strategic Autonomy
EU engagement in Iran has consistently exposed the gap between normative ambition and enforcement capacity, from the collapse of JCPOA mechanisms to the limited impact of sanctions and financial instruments.…
Serbia’s Strategic Balancing: Economic Diversification, EU Conditionality and Regional Stability
Serbia’s political and economic trajectory can be understood through its interaction with the EU and its gradual development in the region since 1999 under the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP)…