Elena Bascone
Political economist working on future challenges by looking at the past.
Originally from Venice, born in 1995, I moved to Berlin at 21 to pursue a Master of International Affairs at the Hertie School. My research focuses on political economy at its intersection with security and tech. My values are inclusion, especially of young people and women, and health promotion.
📔 In 2020, under the supervision of Amb. Wolfgang Ischinger, I published a thesis proposing a novel model for assessing the effectiveness of sanctions by international organizations—applied to the Council of Europe–Russia crisis (2014–2019).
🏛️🇪🇺 After diplomatic training at Luiss Guido Carli in Rome (2021), I gained experience across EU institutions in Brussels, including the European Commission (2022), and served as Work Package leader for the Horizon-funded project XR4Human (2023).
✈️🌐 Awarded the Charlemagne Prize Fellowship (2023–2024), I focused on strategic consortia in aerospace and emerging tech. That research—again supported by Amb. Ischinger and enriched by insights from ESA, XR Association, IEEE-ISTO Masa, UNICRI and others—culminated in a Nash equilibrium-based function and model featured in the 2025 Report on the Future of the Union by the Charlemagne Prize Academy (full list of publications on "Google Scholar").
📸 Copyright: Wedding photographer Вика for Women Techmakers Brussels
Looking back: Res Publica
At 22 I started my first blog, "Res Publica: Italian politics explained" at the Hertie School as part of the "Party Politics" course held by Prof. Hannah Schwander.
Started in 2018 as a student project at the Hertie School, Res Publica has since been carried out in good faith, with every effort to remain compliant. All views expressed are solely personal.
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Looking forward: The Future Blog
At 25, after learning the basics of front-end-development and UI/UX design I created my online website and a second blog, named "The Future Blog" as it deals with policy issues in an innovative, often metaphorical way, presenting topics that I believe will be relevant in the near future. My ambition is to keep mixing my political economy expertise with my passion for tech, meaning coding and XR, and Italian art and history.
Like a personal diary, The Future Blog reflects my thoughts at a given moment. Any resemblance to real people or events is coincidental. Readers are encouraged to double-check information, as imperfections and possible errors are deliberately left to preserve the authenticity of my reflections. I want the blog to be a safe space, like a bedroom: sometimes might be messy, because life is not perfect for anyone, but it's mine.
About me
🤝 Diplomatic
I look forward to accompanying Elena in her career journey. I appreciate Elena’s ability to find support for her ideas and to include different stakeholders in finding a solution.
Elena deserves recognition and appreciation for her academic work. She will, in my view, be able to contribute significantly to any future mission - whether in a government, business, or academic environment. - Wolfgang Ischinger, Hertie School & Munich Security Conference Foundation
🚀 Innovative
I look forward with great interest to following Elena’s future endeavors, especially her ongoing efforts to promote youth inclusion in innovation processes across Europe. I am confident that her skills, intellect, and passion will lead to meaningful contributions in any academic or professional setting she chooses to pursue. - Luca del Monte, European Space Agency
📸 Copyright: LUISS Guido Carli
This website was created by Elena Bascone, 2025. All rights reserved.