China to Strengthen Communist Party’s Role in NGOs
China has issued new rules demanding the establishment of Communist Party panels in non-government bodies, aiming to beef up the ruling party’s role in such social groups, amid a broad… Read more »
Category: Analysis
Survey raises concerns about Turkey’s democratic status
European leaders have become increasingly uncomfortable with what they see as authoritarian tactics of the Turkish government, particularly since last month’s bungled military coup, Bloomberg reports. Focus groups convened… Read more »
Putin bans 25th anniversary tribute to Soviet coup’s defeat
Russia has banned a 25th-anniversary tribute to the thousands who helped defeat an attempted coup by communist hardliners trying to topple Mikhail Gorbachev, The Times reports: Critics said the order… Read more »
U.S. democracy not immune from Kremlin ‘dirt’
Experts say there is a clear incentive for Vladimir Putin, who has long accused the United States of meddling in internal Russian affairs, to continue to seek to play an… Read more »
Russia upping the ante in Ukraine
In Ukraine’s restive east, artillery explosions ring out and international monitors record dozens of shell bursts every evening. The ceasefire between Kiev and the Russian-backed separatists is fraying badly, The… Read more »
How the internet can impede democratization
The internet is an intuitive boon for democracy, according to Elizabeth Stoycheff, Assistant professor at Wayne State University, and Erik C. Nisbet, Associate professor at Ohio State University. It provides… Read more »
HK’s Umbrella Movement Fights Back
The run-up to the Sept. 4 election for Legislative Council is getting tense, and the governments of both Hong Kong and Beijing are watching with keen interest, notes analyst Lian… Read more »
The Week Democracy Died?
Across the affluent, established democracies of North America and Western Europe, the last years have witnessed a meteoric rise of figures who harness a new level of anger that is… Read more »
Cambodia’s Democratic Transition Has Collapsed, With Dangerous Consequences
As Cambodia prepares for national elections in two years, its politics have veered dangerously out of control, notes Council on Foreign Relations analyst Joshua Kurlantzick. Even though young Cambodians are… Read more »
For Putin, Ukraine and Syria are part of the same theater
For a country where politics has long been monopolized by the state, Russia has seen a lot of news in the past few weeks, notes analyst Masha Gessen. It has… Read more »