China’s sharp power: bullying its way into Europe
China has bought or invested in assets in Europe amounting to at least $318 billion over the past 10 years, Bloomberg reports, in the most comprehensive audit to date of… Read more »
Category: Analysis
Protests ‘reveal desire for change’ in Nicaragua
Mass demonstrations in Nicaragua turned deadly when police opened fire on protesters, killing at least 25. The protests started on April 18 when the government sought to introduce social security… Read more »
Macron promotes ‘grand narratives’ for democratic renewal
Europe’s most dynamic political leader, Emmanuel Macron, pays a state visit to Washington this week. The French president has emerged as the West’s most formidable opponent of populist nationalism and… Read more »
Russian kleptocrats ‘fraught with anxieties’: why the latest sanctions will bite
The lives of Russian kleptocrats in Britain are suddenly fraught with new anxieties, the Washington Post reports: Critics in London of Russian President Vladimir Putin are reevaluating their need for… Read more »
More Continuity than Change: Cuba’s ‘cosmetic’, ‘illegitimate’ dynastic succession
Miguel Diaz-Canel succeeded Raul Castro as Cuba’s president on Thursday, saying that there will be “no space for those who aspire for a restoration of capitalism, the LA Times reports… Read more »
USAID’s redesign: how do democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) fit in?
How do democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) fit in to the USAID’s new redesign? Brookings analyst George Ingram asks. The DRG center would be located in the new Bureau… Read more »
The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: a New Political Islam
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is one of a crop of present-day political leaders who value the respectability an ostensibly democratic election confers but don’t want to risk actually losing the vote, the… Read more »
Fighting the Hydra: whose state organs are ‘in hock to some sort of kleptocracy’?
The British government refused to assist a French investigation into suspected money laundering and tax fraud by the UK telecoms giant Lycamobile – citing the fact that the company is… Read more »
Digital Resilience: Russia beating the West ‘hands down’ in information warfare
When it comes to information warfare, Russia is beating the West hands down, says a leading analyst. The disinformation focused on the Skripal poisoning has many similarities with the Kremlin… Read more »
Cyber-attacking the civil in civil society
In the face of authoritarian foreign influence* operations, the U.S. Congress should support public-private partnerships to tackle the challenge posed by disinformation and abuse of social media platforms, according to… Read more »