Valerio Alfonso Bruno is currently Researcher at the University of Fribourg and holds a Ph.D. in “Institutions and Policies” granted by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan (2017). He was visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 2015, and achieved a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations at ASERI (Alta Scuola di Economia e Relazioni Internazionali) in Milan in 2012. Dr. Bruno graduated cum laude in Philosophy at the University of Naples (BA 2007; MD 2009) and studied at Paris IV Sorbonne (2007) and was trained at the Israel-Italy Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tel Aviv in Israel (2011), the European Commission (2013-2014) and the ITU of the United Nations in Geneva (2015).

Valerio Alfonso Bruno political analyses appear regularly on several journals, blogs and tv channels, including: Social Europe (Berlin, Germany); Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Washington D.C., USA); openDemocracy (London, UK) Public Seminar of The New School (New York, USA); London School of Economics EUROPP blog (London, UK); Brave New Europe (Berlin, Germany); Democratic Audit at LSE (London, UK); Indus News (Lahore, Pakistan); & Expresso (Portugal).

Specialist research areas:

Contemporary Populism(s); Post-2008 Europe; EU Politics; European Regional Leadership and Germany; Technocratic elites and governance; EU Lobbying; Political Theory.

Available for consultation in the following areas:

Media commentary on EU politics; EU policy-making; Immigration; Populism(s); Nationalism; EU-US relations.

Selected online links and writings:

“‘Leading through a Decade of Crisis: not Bad, After All’. Germany’s Leadership Demand and Followership inclusion (2008-2018)”, with G. Finzi (2018), German Politics and Society – Issue 129 Vol. 36, No. 4: 50–77. Available at: www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/gps/36/4/gps360403.xml

“Why freedom of expression is at stake in Italy”, Public Seminar of The New School for Social Research, forthcoming.

“Expertise in Politics: boon or bane?”, Social Europe, forthcoming.

“Refugees in Europe’s crosshairs?”, with Waqar Rizvi, Social Europe, May 2019, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/refugees-in-europes-crosshairs

“Radical-right Populists and Financialisation”, with Adriano Cozzolino, Social Europe, February 2019, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/radical-right-populists-finance

“Is Italy’s Populist Government Manufacturing The Next Political Crisis?”, with James F. Downes, Social Europe, October 2018, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/is-italys-populist-government-manufacturing-the-next-political-crisis

“Lobbying In The EU: An Often Unholy Alliance”, Social Europe, October 2018, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/lobbying-in-the-eu-not-just-pressure-and-purchase

“The Italian populist government is voluntarily heading towards the next political crisis (and it may have the upper hand)”, with James F. Downes, LSE Democratic Audit, August 2018, online at:  www.democraticaudit.com/2018/08/29/the-italian-populist-government-is-voluntarily-heading-towards-the-next-political-crisis-and-it-may-have-the-upper-hand/

“The Electoral Success of Radical Right in Europe: Why are the Radical Right better at “capitalizing” on Populism than the Radical Left?”, with James F. Downes, Public Seminar of The New School for Social Research, August 2018, online at: www.publicseminar.org/2018/08/the-electoral-success-of-the-radical-right-in-europe/

“Why have the Populist Radical Right outperformed the Populist Radical Left in Europe?”, with James F. Downes, London School of Economics – European Policies and Politics Blog, August 2018, online at: blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/08/08/why-has-the-populist-radical-right-outperformed-the-populist-radical-left-in-europe/

“Between Scylla and Charybdis: how Trivialization and Complexity are “compressing” Politics”, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, July 2018, online at: www.georgetownjournalofinternationalaffairs.org/online-edition/2018/7/27/between-scylla-and-charybdis-how-trivialization-and-complexity-are-compressing-representative-democracy

“Towards the Disappearance of Politics?”, Social Europe, July 2018, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/towards-the-disappearance-of-politics

“The Strategy of Fear: Populism, Technocracy and European Democracies”, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, July 2018, online at: www.georgetownjournalofinternationalaffairs.org/online-edition/2018/7/9/f18kpxuqoaihtnao28vo5uhyx17vkd

“The Production of Fear. European Democracies in the age of Populisms and Technocracies”, Social Europe, June 2018, online at: www.socialeurope.eu/the-production-of-fear-european-democracies-in-the-age-of-populisms-and-technocracies