Author Archives: DemDigest

Will Abiy Ahmed usher in a new Ethiopia?

     

One year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, Ethiopia continues to be the world’s most exciting democratic breakthrough. Since his appointment, Prime Minister Abiy has initiated a… Read more »

Balkans split between East and West (but still room for engagement)

     

With the exception of Kosovo (53 percent), respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), North Macedonia or Serbia generally do not feel that they belong definitively to either West or East, according to a new poll by the… Read more »

Kremlin advancing political agenda by crushing dissent

     

The Russian government has created a series of often ill-defined laws that threatened fines or even jail time for broad categories of banned content. The authorities have thrown the book… Read more »

25 years after Rwanda genocide, mass atrocities multiply

     

This month marked the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. According to UN estimates, some 800,000 people were shot, hacked, and bludgeoned to death by extremist members of the… Read more »

‘Information ops kill chain’ can stop disinformation drowning democracy

     

  Is disinformation drowning democracy? Former privacy tsars and technology experts have warned the major political parties they must dramatically strengthen their cybersecurity to protect the growing mountains of private… Read more »

Signs of redemption in Arab Spring’s ‘second phase’?

     

What is the connection between Algeria, Egypt and Sudan, and do the rising protests worry the region’s autocratic leaders, France24 asks (above). In Algeria and Sudan, the protesters hold strong… Read more »

How Kazakhstan’s transition is playing out

     

Kazakhstan’s dictatorship appears to have all of the necessary institutions in place to facilitate a smooth transition after Nursultan Nazarbayev. The regime is set up to benefit from the presence of… Read more »

Armenia’s ‘historic opportunity’ for reform needs support

     

  Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution is a historic opportunity for democratic development, a new analysis suggests. Popular protests led by Nikol Pashinian dislodged the country’s kleptocratic ruling elite, and a… Read more »

Reconciling artificial intelligence and human rights

     

  Around the world, concern about the consequences of our growing reliance upon artificial intelligence (AI) is rising. Perhaps the darkest concerns relate to development of AI by authoritarian regimes, some… Read more »