Author Archives: DemDigest

Cuba’s leaders adopt social media, not democracy

     

Cuba‘s Communist regime is tweeting, but that does not mean it is more tolerant of dissent, despite attempts to cultivate on-line dialogue with citizens, the Economist reports: Lately, though, the… Read more »

‘Constitutional spring’ makes Venezuela more conducive to democratic change

     

Juan Guaidó, whom the United States and about 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela’s rightful leader, has said he will confront Nicolas Maduro’s security forces if need be, making aid… Read more »

Will Ethiopia’s liberalization spin out of control?

     

Ethiopian premier Abiy Ahmed’s first 10 months in office have been remarkable by the yardstick of any leader around the world. In that time, he has overseen the swiftest political… Read more »

How illiberal political actors are leveraging information space

     

Illiberal political actors and authoritarian regimes are leveraging the increasingly complex globalized information space to exploit societal cleavages created by political polarization, employing a problematic mix of media manipulation and… Read more »

Can democracies contain autocratic revisionists?

     

The quarter century following the Cold War was the most peaceful in modern history. Then history began to change course, notes Michael Mandelbaum. Christian A. Herter Professor Emeritus of American Foreign… Read more »

Microsoft detects hacking targeting European democracy groups

     

A hacking group has targeted European democratic institutions including think tanks and non-profit groups ahead of highly anticipated EU parliamentary elections in May, Microsoft said. The company said Tuesday that a… Read more »

Advancing democracy in uncertain times

     

2018 marked the 13th consecutive year that democracy has declined in the world, according to the latest Freedom in the World report from Freedom House. It is a period that has… Read more »

Losing legitimacy: Iran’s Islamic Republic ‘on brink of collapse’?

     

“Is the Islamic Republic on the brink of collapse?” was the title of a long interview published by the Iranian news agency Tasnim. To fully appreciate the true explosive power… Read more »