Category: Analysis

New tactics, models, actors, and strategies needed to enhance democracy support

     

Democracy assistance is failing to adapt to the shifting dynamics of global politics evident in recent reports from such varied sources as Freedom House, the Varieties of Democracies project and The… Read more »

The Arab Region After the Uprisings: Struggling to define inclusive social contract

     

Since the 2011 uprisings, Arab countries have struggled to define a new social contract that would insulate their citizens from forces of exclusion—forces that range from poverty, inequality and unemployment… Read more »

Mao’s long shadow clouds China’s sharp power

     

In recent years, China has spent a small fortune trying to influence the world through “soft power” — relying on language, cuisine and culture, rather than the conventional hard tools of aircraft… Read more »

Populist outsiders sweep Tunisia’s elections?

     

Tunisians headed to the polls on Sunday in their second free and fair presidential election. The election was exceptionally competitive, with no candidate in a crowded field of 26 garnering… Read more »

As new civil movements gain strength, Tunisia a testing showcase for Islam and democracy

     

Today, as new democratic movements gather strength elsewhere in North Africa and Tunisia prepares for a presidential election on Sunday, the country’s role as a showcase for democracy in the… Read more »

Disinformation: Countering malign influence of autocrats – and Big Tech?

     

The European Union may need “broader rules to make sure that the way companies collect and use data doesn’t harm the fundamental values of our society,” tech czar Margrethe Vestager,… Read more »

Rethinking backsliding: Why flawed liberals leave democracy vulnerable

     

One thing is especially disconcerting about the illiberal turn in Eastern and Central Europe. It has been the early front-runners of democratization – Hungary and Poland – where democratic backsliding… Read more »

‘Harder edge’ to China’s sharp power threatens democracies

     

China is pushing to build up cultural “soft power” to complement the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $60 billion infrastructure program it has launched as part of the Asian… Read more »

China ‘in danger of losing its grip’ over Tibet and Xinjiang

     

China is in danger of losing its grip over Tibet and Xinjiang and needs a radical reset of its ethnic policies, experts suggest. In September last year, Shohret Hoshur, a… Read more »