Author Archives: DemDigest

Rejecting ‘Western’ democracy, China’s Xi consolidates power with new ideology

     

  China’s President Xi Jinping has created his own political ideology, in a step towards entrenching his position at the top of the Communist Party. Top officials have made multiple… Read more »

Soleimani ‘gets his way again’ as Iran fills strategic vacuum

     

Najmaldin Karim, the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk Province, will not be returning to the city that elected him in 2011 and 2014. It’s too dangerous, Bloomberg’s Eli Lake reports: In… Read more »

‘Islamic State not finished’ – governance key to preventing resurgence

     

As the campaigns to wrest the Islamic State from the territory it held in Iraq and Syria near completion, new conflicts may arise if old political arrangements prevail, according to… Read more »

China’s Plan to Buy Influence and Undermine Democracy

     

  To enhance its economic and political clout, China has made substantial inroads across Southeast Asia on the back of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and investment deals, notes analyst Philip Heijmans. This… Read more »

Russian trolls paid activists to sow discord: how to reduce vulnerability

     

A Russian “troll factory” paid tens of thousands of dollars to unwitting American activists to sow discord in the US, The Times reports: This is the first suggestion of direct… Read more »

Slain journalist Caruana Galizia exposed ‘mafia state’ Malta’s part in global kleptocracy

     

A Maltese police officer has been attacked by the son of a murdered journalist after writing on Facebook that ‘everyone gets what they deserve’ after she was killed, according to reports. The… Read more »

Canada passes ‘Global Magnitsky’, Russia threatens retaliation

     

A bill targeting foreign nationals who have committed human rights violations has passed final reading in Canada’s Senate, writes Leslie Young of Investigative Global News: Bill S-226, which has now… Read more »

Ukraine’s ‘double existential threat’ – West’s credibility at stake

     

The West’s credibility and cohesion are at stake in Ukraine, according to a new analysis from Chatham House, the London-based foreign policy think-tank. The international community has invested heavily in… Read more »

$18bn boost for Open Society – but CEU held in ‘legal limbo’

     

George Soros, who built one of the world’s largest fortunes through a famous series of trades, has turned over nearly $18 billion to Open Society Foundations, according to foundation officials,… Read more »