Georgia’s turn to the West no cause for complacency
Democracy has been in retreat across Eurasia in recent years, and in many countries, the lure of Western political models has faded. But Georgia has been an exception, note analysts… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
Sources of the real power of Putin
We needn’t look to the post-Soviet “color revolutions” in Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004), let alone to the more recent demonstrations in Moscow against election fraud (2011–2012), for the source… Read more »
How to counter autocrats’ soft power
A new global “soft power” ranking recently reported that the democratic states of North America and Western Europe were the most successful at achieving their diplomatic objectives “through attraction and… Read more »
Why Russia is degrading democracy around the world
In the light of Ivan Ilyin’s rehabilitation as Russia’s leading ideologue, Moscow’s manipulations of elections should be seen not so much as a failure to implement democracy but as a… Read more »
Vietnam: free imprisoned bloggers
Vietnam’s Communist authorities should quash the politically motivated convictions of two bloggers and release them from prison, Human Rights Watch said today: On September 22, 2016, the Higher People’s Court… Read more »
Have leading democracies ‘lost their moral fervor’?
Some Americans have concluded that the best thing to do is to pull back from the world and its troubles, say three prominent former officials. Some argue that America’s role… Read more »
Hidden Heroes: Voices of Syria’s Civil Society
Today, over 5,000 men and women are active in Syrian civil society organizations. These diverse grassroots organizations work in human rights, community development, awareness building, and humanitarian aid. Much of… Read more »
Corruption overshadows Ukraine aid package
“You can’t catch a big fish with a small, thin rod” said Volodymyr Groysman, the prime minister of Ukraine, when asked why not a single “big fish” has been… Read more »
Human Rights, Accountability, & Access to Information in North Korea
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from organizations interested in submitting Statements of Interest (SOI) for programs that support… Read more »
Acquittal: How ‘Islamization’ galvanized Pakistan’s women’s movement
“Acquittal” by Shahid Nadeem (left) focuses on four women in a Pakistan prison each accused of a different injustice. The play was inspired by Shahid’s own imprisonment in the 80’s… Read more »