Author Archives: DemDigest

How to counter violent extremism in the Sahel

     

In recent years, the Sahel region of Africa has experienced increasing levels of insecurity and instability. Violent extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) continuously target civilian populations… Read more »

Illiberal international? How Putin is ‘using Hungary to destroy Europe’

     

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has some key allies in the European Union. In some countries, they are outliers, even fringe elements. But in Hungary, a nation of about 10 million people… Read more »

Rights defenders at risk: 20 years after UN Declaration

     

In a Russian court hearing yesterday, human rights defender Semyon Simonov (left) faced police officers who had detained him in April in the southern city of Volgograd. Simonov had been… Read more »

Democracy’s Eleventh Hour? Safeguarding elections: 5 stages, 3 myths

     

Recent elections in the US, France and Germany indicate an emerging practice whereby autocracies meddle in democratic elections by hacking data, scandalizing it through leaks, and amplifying the effect by… Read more »

Contesting the populist challenge to liberal democracy

     

The transatlantic alliance – which for decades has underpinned global stability, fortified democracy, and safeguarded the West as we know it – is under severe strain, and risks terminal decline,… Read more »

Putinism’s greatest liability

     

Having lived through the collapse of two ideologies, tsarist and communist, Russia has been a post-truth society for decades, notes Anastasia Edel, the author of Russia: Putin’s Playground: Empire, Revolution, and… Read more »

What the royal Saudi purge means: prelude to reform or power consolidation?

     

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been considered a bulwark of stability in the Persian Gulf region. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s extraordinary weekend roundup against alleged corruption shook… Read more »