Author Archives: DemDigest

Corruption, poor economy, illiberalism threaten Tunisia’s exceptionalism

     

Poor economic conditions and corruption are at the source of intense public dissatisfaction in Tunisia, according to a new poll by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research:… Read more »

Alfred C. Stepan, R.I.P.

     

Democracy advocates and scholars are mourning the passing of Alfred C. Stepan. Stepan, a prominent political scientist who served as dean of the School of International and Public Affairs from… Read more »

Kurdish vote reflects Middle East’s ‘existential quandary’

     

  Turkey threatened potentially crippling restrictions on oil trading with Iraqi Kurds on Thursday after they backed independence from Baghdad in a referendum that has alarmed Ankara as it faces… Read more »

Community of Democracies needed now more than ever

     

  When the Community of Democracies first gathered in Warsaw seventeen years ago, no one could be certain that the Community would continue for very long, let alone develop and… Read more »

Russians can change – not condemned by ‘cultural code’

     

Russians are not so restricted by a“’cultural code’ of serfdom and paternalism” that the only way forward is to rely on “an enlightened ruler who bases himself on a group… Read more »

Xi tightening grip on China’s civil society in effort to ‘institutionalize legitimacy’

     

Since becoming Chinese president in 2012, Xi Jinping has been tightening his grip on civil society, the military and competing political cliques. Now, as the Communist party prepares for the five-yearly… Read more »

Strategic Pressure: A Blueprint for Democratic Change in the DRC

     

Democratic Republic of Congo authorities should immediately and unconditionally release nine Congolese human rights and pro-democracy activists wrongfully detained for their participation in peaceful activities, 45 Congolese and international human… Read more »

Grave human rights abuses occurring in Crimea, UN finds

     

Russia violates the rights of annexed Crimean peninsula residents with impunity, employing arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture, a UN report published on Monday states: The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)… Read more »

How to defend against Russia’s information warfare

     

Poland, like many European countries, has been targeted by Russian propagandists with disinformation campaigns. Experts say the effort is aimed at the country’s political discussion. They say many false accounts were opened… Read more »