Author Archives: DemDigest

Can populism help invigorate liberal democracy?

     

Although the revolutions of 1989 seemed to promise a new “post-ideological” era of liberal-democratic ascendancy, we have long been caught in a powerful authoritarian undertow that often goes by the… Read more »

Putin’s ‘formidable influence machine’ at work in French poll

     

Russia, or at least its state-controlled news media, has been interfering in the French presidential election, the New York Times reports: Cécile Vaissié, a professor of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet… Read more »

Crimintern: How the Kremlin uses Russia’s criminal networks

     

Over the past 20 years, the role of Russian-based organised crime (RBOC) in Europe has shifted considerably, notes Mark Galeotti, senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague… Read more »

Time to make countering kleptocracy a priority

     

Following the ousting of Pravin Gordhan as South Africa’s finance minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle and the downgrade by ratings agencies, fears that South Africa under President Jacob Zuma… Read more »

The End of the Postnational Illusion?

     

With the advance of modernization, nationalism was supposed to fade away. Yet even in advanced democracies, nationalism’s influence seems larger than ever. What did we get wrong? analyst Ghia Nodia… Read more »

Turkey’ s Erdogan perfects new authoritarians’ playbook

     

Turkey’ s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected criticism by monitors who say the referendum campaign fell short of international standards, the BBC reports: The observers said Mr Erdogan had… Read more »

Russia’s latest victim in Ukraine — reform

     

Russian-sponsored unrest could threaten not only Ukraine’s reform process, but Kiev’s post-revolutionary order, argues analyst Molly McKew. The real influence of Russian banks in Ukraine is hard to measure, but… Read more »

Western democracies ‘floundering’ in internet clash of ideas?

     

  Russian efforts to influence the French presidential election show that the central aim of the Kremlin’s media outlets and networks is to foment fear and mistrust outside Russia and… Read more »