Author Archives: DemDigest

A foreign policy for advancing democracy

     

The debate about American foreign policy has always divided along two dimensions. How close in or far out should America protect its security? And for what moral or political purpose… Read more »

Democracies need ‘different narrative’ to counter populists and autocrats’ soft power

     

After the Chinese Communist party’s celebratory 19th congress, which ended last week, some observers proclaimed Xi Jinping a new emperor, notes Harvard University’s Joseph Nye: Mr Xi, for his part,… Read more »

How to attack a democracy: weaponize social media

     

  Between June 2015 and August 2017, millions of Americans were exposed to Facebook ads and posts generated by Russian operatives who sought to influence voter behavior and exploit divisions… Read more »

China’s rise means trade trumps rights, says Hong Kong activist

     

Young Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong warned Wednesday that China’s rise means human rights are in increasingly greater danger of being overshadowed globally by business interests, The Associated Press… Read more »

Will U.S. downplay human rights as it turns to Vietnam as ally against China?

     

On the occasion of the trip to the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, human rights attorney Nguyen Thi Duong Ha (above) has sent a letter on prisoners of conscience in Vietnam… Read more »

Use soft power to challenge Pyongyang’s grip on information, top North Korea defector says

     

A high-ranking North Korean defector is recommending that U.S. lawmakers greatly increase the dissemination of information inside the isolated country, saying funding for such efforts pales in comparison to U.S. military… Read more »

Culture or economics? What is populism and how did it happen?

     

  In the face of populist fantasists and authoritarians, liberal democrats must draw inspiration from Cicero and Jefferson and reaffirm the wonders of democracy, argues Philip Collins, the author of… Read more »

Why Catalonia does not deserve independence – an established constitutional democracy attacked

     

Separatists across Europe, from Scotland to Silesia, have been watching the independence bid launched this month by Catalan secessionists with interest, so too have European leaders, who feared it might… Read more »

Time to contest China’s vision of global leadership

     

At the 19th Communist Party Congress, China’s President Xi Jinping declared that a “new era” had begun. Xi set out a vision of a political system directly opposed to Western values of democracy… Read more »

Ideas and prospects for democratic renewal

     

The assumption that autocracy is a feasible alternative to liberal democracy is understandable. When representative democracy fell before, it fell in that direction. It also fits the trend of events… Read more »