Author Archives: DemDigest

China’s Lhasa Consensus ‘can’t hide the rot underneath’

     

  China last week held a two-day Tibet Development Forum in Lhasa attended by 130 people from 30 countries and organized by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, VOA’s Yeshi Dorje… Read more »

Chilcot report proves Iraq war was not about advancing democracy

     

  The invasion of Iraq has had a huge impact on the debate about democracy in the Middle East—and almost entirely a detrimental one, notes Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow… Read more »

JCPOA failed to open up economic and political space within Iran

     

Activist Iyad el-Baghdadi had initially hoped that the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would give Iran’s entrepreneurs, reformists, and civil society at large more breathing space:… Read more »

Turkey in vanguard of throttling social media

     

After suicide bombers killed 45 people at Istanbul’s main airport last week, the Turkish government appeared to take a step that has become increasingly common around the world in moments… Read more »

Real danger to the world isn’t Brexit – it’s the rise of illiberalism

     

Two weeks after Britain’s EU referendum, Europe has defied predictions that the UK’s vote to leave would inspire a surge in copycat breakaway movements, with establishment parties enjoying gains and populists… Read more »

Transitional Sri Lanka: Workers in Post-Civil War Jaffna

     

Sri Lanka continues to recover from a long and brutal civil war (1983–2009) between the ruling Buddhist Sinhalese and the primarily Hindu Tamil minority. During the conflict, which penetrated all… Read more »

The benefits of disruptive technology – world’s best digital projects

     

“What are the benefits of disruptive technology?,” Peter A. Bruck, Chairman of the World Summit Awards, asked an audience of young social entrepreneurs and innovators, international thought-leaders, ICT experts and regional stakeholders. “How… Read more »

New Forms of Democratic Citizenship in MENA

     

The Arab Spring opened a window of opportunity to revise democracy support in a direction that better reflects local interpretations of citizenship and rights, but external actors have yet to… Read more »

Obama rebukes Poland over constitutional paralysis, illiberal democracy

     

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed concern on Friday over Poland’s moves to shackle its constitutional court, in unusually blunt comments calling on the former communist EU country’s government to do… Read more »