Are we in a new authoritarian era?
In this special episode on Intelligence Squared, host John Donvan sits down with two of America’s leading thinkers on politics and foreign policy: Susan Glasser and Yascha Mounk.* They discuss… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Moderates must avoid ‘Flight 93 Temptation’ to borrow from the populists’ illiberal playbook
The two most venerable English-speaking democracies appear to be following in the footsteps of countries they once sought to inspire. As the experience of Argentina, Hungary, or even Italy make… Read more »
Defending pro-democracy forces is important to national security – and who we are
Without the support of the U.S. government, pro-democracy forces around the world will wither as authoritarianism gains ground, argues Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and… Read more »
Russia’s Playbook for Disrupting Democracy
Russia’s brazen interference in the 2016 American presidential election shouldn’t have been a total shock, says Matt Apuzzo, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter based in Brussels. President Vladimir Putin’s… Read more »
Hostile Social Manipulation: ‘democratic societies in retreat’
As strategic competitors, most notably Russia and China, engage in hostile social manipulation, such as conducting targeted social media campaigns, conspiracy theories, and sophisticated forgeries, democracies urgently need to undertake… Read more »
‘Connecting the Dots’: empowering stakeholders for inclusive governance
Societies with open markets and the rule of law foster freedom and security, allowing businesses to innovate and invest, notes Kim Bettcher, head of the Center for International Private Enterprise’s… Read more »
‘Democracies Divided’: How to counter political polarization
Political polarization is tearing at the seams of democracies around the world—from Brazil, India, and Kenya, to Poland, Turkey, and the United States, Carnegie Endowment scholar Thomas Carothers observes in… Read more »
Tunisia’s Islamists, secularists vie for power in world’s youngest democracy
On September 15, Tunisians will cast ballots in their country’s second free and democratic presidential election since the 2011 revolution, the Project on Middle East Democracy reports. The highly competitive… Read more »
Hong Kong: China’s accusations of foreign influence echo authoritarian playbook
China has a long history of blaming “foreign forces” for challenges it has faced internally, including the Tiananmen Square protests 30 years ago. But the depth and ferocity of China’s… Read more »
How to cultivate democratic resilience
Democracies around the world are combating Russian election interference, a new report observes. Some of these countries have dealt with this interference better than others, and there are important… Read more »