Russia and China: Axis of revisionists?
China and Russia are revisionist powers in as much as they share a commitment to creating a “post-West” global order which takes their interests into account and is conducive to… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Mubarak’s legacy – Arab Spring’s failure?
Hosni Mubarak, the autocratic ruler of Egypt whose nearly 30 years in power came to an abrupt, bloody climax in 2011 after a popular revolt swept across the Arab world,… Read more »
What is Happening in Malaysia?
It’s been a crazy few days in Malaysian politics: 94-year old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned on Monday, only to return as interim Prime Minister a few hours later. Was… Read more »
Russian activist sues on 5th anniversary of Nemtsov assassination
Three years ago, in February 2017, Vladimir Kara-Murza was rushed to a Moscow hospital, where he suffered massive organ failure, forcing doctors to place the Russian democracy activist on a… Read more »
How democracies should respond to the disinformation dilemma
Often sponsored by authoritarian state actors, disinformation undermines democracies by eroding trust in institutions and media, increasing rifts and tensions in society and weakening our ability to take informed decisions. How… Read more »
Bolivia in transition?
Defying Bolivia’s constitution and a binding referendum forbidding reelection, former President Evo Morales ran for a fourth consecutive term in October 2019. Documented fraud sparked nationwide protests that eventually led… Read more »
Can democracy survive in the coming age of AI?
Given all the data that can be gathered by smartphones and sensors, with more to come, the Economist asks in a recent issue whether artificial-intelligence systems could one day “replace the autonomous… Read more »
China launches counteroffensive in the war of ideas
For China’s one party-state, the West’s promotion of liberal democracy is part of an ideological struggle led by an adversary that is still vastly superior, a situation that Chinese strategists… Read more »
Liberalism or illiberalism vs. democracy?
Following four-plus years of assault by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the embattled Polish judiciary may be on its last legs. On 4 February, amid mass domestic and international… Read more »
R.I.P. Vietnamese dissident Nobel Prize nominee Thich Quang Do
Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died. Head of… Read more »