Context: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement was launched in 2005 by 171 Palestinian civil society organisations calling on the international community to apply economic and political pressure on Israel until it complies with international law regarding Palestinian rights. Modelled explicitly on the anti-apartheid movement against South Africa, BDS has become one of the most influential - and controversial - transnational pressure campaigns of the 21st century. The movement gained massive momentum after Israel's 2023-2025 military campaign in Gaza, which killed over 46,000
Context: At COP28 in Dubai (2023), a record 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists received official accreditation - more than the delegations of every climate-vulnerable country combined. The conference was presided over by Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), who used his position to pursue oil and gas deals on the sidelines of climate negotiations. Fossil fuel industry influence at UN climate conferences has been documented since the 1990s, but the scale and transparency of industry presence at COP28 represented a new level of what critics call "regulatory capture" o
Context: The National Rifle Association (NRA), founded in 1871, has become the most powerful single-issue interest group in American politics , spending over $250 million on political activities since 1998 to block gun control legislation. Despite polls consistently showing majority public support for measures like universal background checks, the NRA has successfully prevented significant federal gun reform for decades. The organisation's influence persisted even after mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary (2012, 26 killed), Parkland (2018, 17 killed), and Uvalde (2022, 21 killed). The Bi
Context: Interest groups, including fossil fuel industry lobbies, environmental NGOs, renewable energy companies, and trade unions , are central actors in climate policy at national and international levels, shaping the ambition, design, and implementation of climate legislation through lobbying, campaign finance, public advocacy, and regulatory capture. The fossil fuel industry has spent billions of dollars over several decades funding climate denial , lobbying against climate regulation, and delaying policy action, while environmental NGOs, youth movements, and increasingly renewable energ