Liberia confronts challenges to consolidate its nascent democracy
With President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf set to step down after 12 years office, 20 candidates are competing to replace her. On 10 October 2017, Liberia will go to the polls… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Will global populism continue to erode democracies?
As we head into election season in Europe, the question that dominated the past spring’s elections remains on everyone’s mind: What will be the fate of populist movements, parties and… Read more »
RT, Sputnik and Russia’s New Theory of War
The Kremlin has developed one of the most powerful information weapons of the 21st century — and it may be impossible to stop, notes Jim Rutenberg, The New York… Read more »
China exploits vulnerability of open democracies
Openness, diversity and tolerance are the greatest strengths of the world’s liberal democracies. But to autocratic regimes like China, these same attributes are vulnerabilities ripe for exploitation. As reported by… Read more »
A problem much bigger than Putin
Do Russia’s size, political culture and distrust of the Western world make it unsuitable for democracy? Absolutely not, says Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the founder of Open Russia, a movement committed to… Read more »
Observers under fire for ‘rubber stamping’ Kenya vote
Accused of glossing over flaws in Kenya’s election which later caused the result to be overturned, international observers are under a harsh spotlight ahead of a re-run in October, AFP… Read more »
Democracy in crisis – and prospects for renewal
With the advent of authoritarian leaders and the simultaneous rise of populism, representative democracy appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place, yet it is this space… Read more »
Countering violent extremism: learning from other democracies
How does terrorism end? Is it effective as a means of securing political power? Robin Wright asks in The New Yorker: Sinn Féin—the I.R.A.’s political wing—is the most popular party… Read more »
Did 9/11 trigger democracy’s decline?
The 9/11 attacks spawned wars to export democracy abroad, while degrading it at home, according to Jeremi Suri, professor of history and public affairs at the University of Texas at… Read more »
Possible ‘crimes against humanity’ in Venezuela, U.N. warns
The United Nations human rights chief said on Monday that Venezuela’s security forces may have committed crimes against humanity against protesters and called for an international investigation. But Venezuela’s… Read more »