Author Archives: DemDigest

‘Leader of unfree world’ – China’s Xi is ‘courting political catastrophe’

     

In ending presidential term limits, China’s president Xi Jinping – the leader of the unfree world –  is ‘thinking global and acting local’, The South China Morning Post’s Nectar Gan… Read more »

The next Arab Spring ‘simply a matter of time’?

     

Autocratic allies in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, have reportedly been told that the U.S. will not “lecture” them on democracy and human rights. U.S. attempts to explicitly… Read more »

Enlightenment Now: Is democracy winning or losing the global contest?

     

  Liberal democracy “is where the world was, not where it is going,” said US senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. By the end of the year, we should be able to… Read more »

Information Access Fund aims to counter disinformation

     

  The U.S. State Department will receive $40 million in new funding to counter disinformation from foreign countries, the agency said Monday. A new Information Access Fund will support public… Read more »

How to talk with Russia – ‘rethinking the old freedom brand’

     

So far, Western statesmen, editors, and journalists have responded to Russian propaganda defensively: pointing out lies, rebuffing accusations, disclosing hidden motives, and demonstrating the ugliness of the Russian regime. But… Read more »

Democracy promotion is not election meddling

     

America’s domestic and foreign critics alike commit a serious category error in placing U.S. democracy-promotion efforts in the same basket as electoral interference, says Thomas O. Melia, previously deputy assistant… Read more »

Time to start shredding Putin Playbook

     

Social media platforms are failing to make the changes that would help curb online disinformation and fake news despite the efforts made since the 2016 US presidential election exposed the… Read more »

Xi’s ‘dictator-for-life’ move could harm China’s sharp power

     

The surprise disclosure on Sunday that the Communist Party was abolishing constitutional limits on presidential terms — effectively allowing President Xi Jinping to lead China indefinitely — was the latest and arguably… Read more »

Cuba’s transition prospects (but not to democracy)

     

Authoritarian regimes born of revolutions such as Cuba’s often survive for decades, but they struggle once the revolutionary generation dies off — especially if they cannot find an alternative source of legitimacy,… Read more »