How to tackle al Qaeda’s resurgent threat
The most formidable al Qaeda franchises have embedded themselves within complex local conflicts in failing states such as Somalia, Yemen and Syria, notes Ali Soufan, the author of “Anatomy of… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Can democracy survive the Internet?
In more innocent times, the rise of the Internet was seen by many people as a boon to democracy. Now, in what are clearly less innocent times, the Internet is… Read more »
Democracy & Rights Abuses in Russia: No End in Sight
Democracy and Human Rights Abuses in Russia: No End in Sight Panelists: Vladimir Kara-Murza (left), vice chairman of Open Russia; Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch Europe… Read more »
Big data exposes (Russia’s) big falsehoods
Ever since Vladimir Putin took power, the Kremlin has steadily tightened its ligature around the Russian media. In 2000, Putin signed Russia’s Information Security Doctrine. Updated last December, it is… Read more »
‘Conspiratorial mind-set’ fuels information warfare?
Reports that the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies is responsible for masterminding the Kremlin’s information warfare were dismissed by Mikhail Fradkov, the institute’s recently appointed director, as a product of… Read more »
Inside Chechnya’s ‘anti-gay pogrom’
Using classic KGB tactics, Chechen security officers are targeting and torturing gay men, the New York Times reports: Novaya Gazeta, an opposition newspaper, first reported the pogrom, saying that at least 100… Read more »
Boris Nemtsov – ‘as he really was’
MY FRIEND BORIS NEMTSOV Trailer from Antipode Sales on Vimeo. The film Nemtsov chronicles a remarkable political life, according to the Institute of Modern Russia: It is a story told by… Read more »
Advancing human rights – with data
The International Human Rights Funders Group and Foundation Center recently published Advancing Human Rights: Update on Global Foundation Grantmaking, a report analyzing the who, what, where, and how of human rights philanthropy, notes Merrill Sovner,… Read more »
French election reflects death of political parties
The political party is dying and independents now rule among voters around the globe. France has emerged as the leader of this movement, and the first confirmation of its depth… Read more »
Liberal democracy ‘docile in defense of itself’
The peace-building aspect of the liberal order has been an extraordinary success, but its institutions have become disconnected from publics in the very countries that created them, according to Jeff D. Colgan and Robert… Read more »