Pakistan’s ‘democratic opportunity’?
Clashes erupted Monday between the riot police and thousands of supporters of the opposition politician Imran Khan in northwestern Pakistan, ahead of his plan to hold a protest in the… Read more »
Category: Analysis
Russia’s ambitions clash with its capabilities
Speaking at the 13th Valdai Discussion Club near Sochi last week, Russian president Vladimir Putin again railed at the US for allegedly misusing its global hegemony of the past 25… Read more »
Chavismo comes full circle
Chavismo has come full circle, notes analyst David Smilde. From a movement that showed how non-elite actors could use the instruments of electoral democracy to upend an entrenched elite, Chavismo… Read more »
Ukraine stunned as political elite’s vast wealth made public
An anti-corruption reform requiring senior Ukrainian officials to declare their wealth online has exposed a vast difference between the fortunes of politicians and those they represent, Reuters reports: Some… Read more »
Orban leads surging illiberalism in CEE
Populist and nativist political parties have emerged throughout Europe, yet only in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have these illiberal democratic parties gained power, notes Jacques Rupnik, director of research… Read more »
Mosul highlights ‘post-conflict bipolar disorder’
What the Mosul operation should be making obvious is that whoever gets to the gaps in governance and civil society first and best will win the epic struggles of identity… Read more »
Spotlight on Egypt’s repression
In theory, Egypt’s Public Prosecution should be an independent, impartial institution, defending the rights of all Egyptians before the law, notes a new report from the Project on Middle East… Read more »
‘Countering violent extremism’ – challenges and responses
Violent extremism is caused primarily by religious ideology more than racism, poverty, military interventions by foreign governments and human rights abuses, according to a new global poll published this week… Read more »
West’s ‘China fantasy’ a conceptual failure and strategic blunder
A top-level meeting of the ruling Chinese Communist Party has endorsed President Xi Jinping as a “core” leader, giving him equal billing with late supreme leaders Deng Xiaoping and Mao… Read more »
A post-ISIS recovery plan for Syria?
With the Iranians and the Russians fully backing Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, it’s clear that the chances of regime change anytime soon are zero. Assuming that Raqqa will be liberated… Read more »