Category: Analysis

Development and governance key to national security

     

Countering violent extremism and other national security priorities are advanced by the development of stable nations making progress on social development, economic growth, good governance and rule of law, say… Read more »

Disgust over corruption threatens Tunisia’s trajectory, MENA stability

     

Armed with banners, placards and cigarettes, dozens of protesters gathered in the Tunisian capital Tunis on Sunday for the first-ever demonstration of its kind – the right not to fast for Ramadan. Popular perceptions… Read more »

Will Russia’s growing protests crystallize into a new opposition?

     

Baton-wielding riot police broke up anti-corruption protests and detained hundreds of demonstrators in Moscow and other Russian cities on Monday soon after arresting opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Reuters reports: The… Read more »

Countering Malign Foreign Influence in Southeast Europe

     

  The state of democracy and freedom has been backsliding or stagnating in the countries of the Western Balkans over the past decade, while “illiberal democracy” or “competitive authoritarianism” are… Read more »

35 years after Reagan’s Westminster Address: Reclaiming American Realism?

     

Advancing U.S. interests take should precedence over defending the “liberal international order” and the U.S. should not use its “national strength to uphold a fictive international community”, according to foreign… Read more »

Time to take idea of the West back from the populists

     

The very populists who happily speak in the name of the West have proven to be the most immediate threat to Western political principles, a threat from within, notes Michael Kimmage, a… Read more »

Why authoritarians flop as economic modernizers

     

Poor countries like India should resist the authoritarian temptation and stick to pushing smart reforms through the democratic process, argues Noah Smith, an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook… Read more »

Countering disinformation operations in the Baltic States

     

The Baltic states have been heavily targeted by disinformation campaigns waged by Russia. But Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are, however, hardened and sensitized to information attacks, having learnt many lessons from… Read more »

Prospects for democratic renewal 35 years after Reagan’s Westminster Address

     

Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright turned president in Czechoslovakia, had a unique ability to find hope in the bleakest of situations, notes Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for… Read more »