The Church That Stalin Couldn’t Kill
Seventy years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, under orders from Josef Stalin, an illegal “synod” of Kremlin-controlled clergy gathered in the city of Lviv, recently absorbed into the Soviet Union… Read more »
Author Archives: DemDigest
How the military changed during Tunisia’s democratic transition
Five years after the Arab Spring, only Tunisia remains on the path to democracy. To explain the Tunisian success story, scholars often point to the Tunisian military, which, unlike other… Read more »
Empower women to counter violent extremism
A major new study released on International Women’s Day offers insight into how non-violent Islamist ideology overlaps with the violent Islamism of groups including Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ). The… Read more »
Zimbabwean state actors harass civil society
Democracy advocates have strongly condemned the targeted harassment of a leading civil society organization, Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD), by Zimbabwean state actors. On March 4, just days before… Read more »
Vietnam: cost of living with trafficking
On International Women’s Day, Radio Free Asia (RFA) today released a short documentary, “Vietnam: Cost of Living” — the eighth installment of the online RFA multimedia series “Breaking Free: Stories… Read more »
Palestinian teachers’ protest ‘revitalizing’ democracy, exposing PA corruption
One of the largest protests the West Bank has seen in recent years is not aimed against the Israeli occupation, but to deliver a message to the Palestinian Authority, Al… Read more »
Obama’s Cuba trip: ‘misguided’ or ‘subversive’?
President Obama’s forthcoming trip to Cuba continues to divide analysts and democracy advocates. A successful trip could vindicate the decision by Mr. Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba to pursue an official thaw, broadcasting… Read more »
Iran sought client state in Iraq, says envoy
Senior American officials held confidential talks with Iran about Iraq’s future in advance of the United States-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, and secured a promise that the Iranian military would not fire… Read more »
Market-Leninism: capitalism with Communist characteristics?
It would be a serious mistake to assume that Cuba’s economic opening, advanced by the Obama-initiated rapprochement, will necessarily usher in a new political era in Cuba, argues Brahma Chellaney,… Read more »
Savchenko renews protest fast, dignitaries demand her release
Nadia Savchenko, who has been living on water and limited food since March 4, is suffering from symptoms of starvation, according to a regional Ukrainian consul general who visited… Read more »