Who will pick up the democracy promotion mantle?
It is not surprising that liberty has enemies. The tragedy now is that the defense of liberty is absent where it should be vibrant, argues Stein Ringen, a visiting professor… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Springtime for autocrats: the new caudillos
Liberal democracy is threatened by populism of both left and right, according to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. “For the first time in my life I am anxious… Read more »
Will post-election Putin intensify conflict with the West?
If you want to know what might keep Vladimir Putin from a good night’s sleep after his expected landslide reelection as president of Russia on Sunday, there’s no better place… Read more »
A Brezhnev moment: ‘coronation’ takes Putin a step closer to leader-for-life
With his reelection, Vladimir Putin took one step closer to becoming Russia’s leader for life. On paper, Putin’s victory gave him a new six-year term as president. But some… Read more »
In era of geopolitical uncertainty, Lithuania inspires
Lithuania celebrated the 100th anniversary of its independence and democratic statehood on February 16, an exercise that showed the country’s understanding that it must keep its democracy vibrant and forward-looking, notes… Read more »
Liberal international order ‘mounting a comeback’ to neo-revisionist challenge
The defenders of what’s called the “liberal international order” have recently suffered setbacks from adversaries inside and outside their home countries. But those who want to see the Western-led… Read more »
What do we know about the Russian cyber ops playbook?
For Russia, cyber-operations are a subset of overall information warfare and a way to integrate hacking seamlessly into influence campaigns, according to Ryan C. Maness, an assistant professor in the Defense… Read more »
Disinformation’s threat to elections demands multi-dimensional approach
While tackling the scourge of disinformation, governments and other parties should avoid interfering with the freedom of expression and free media, according to a report from the European Commission’s… Read more »
The right way to defend democracy
The title of William A. Galston’s “Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy” makes an excellent case that the populist surge of 2016 was rooted in the economic stagnation of… Read more »
‘Londongrad’: spy attack shines spotlight on kleptocratic haven
“Kleptocracy at its worst” is how US Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently characterized dealings at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a heavily indebted state development fund currently under investigation for fraud… Read more »