Putin nemesis planning post-Putin Russia
Most post-Communist countries have made a transition to some form of democratic rule, notes Masha Gessen. Not coincidentally, most of them had a memory of such institutions to build on,… Read more »
Category: Analysis
China ‘waging ideological war’ against Western ideas, civil society
China’s Communist Party and its military are waging an ideological war against hostile Western ideas on the Internet. Through censorship, intimidation and repression, and with the help of an army… Read more »
Corruption could ‘send Ukraine back to Russia’?
The European Union today announced plans to give Ukraine some 50 million euros (55 million dollars) to fight corruption. EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes… Read more »
The Fractious Path: Pakistan’s Democratic Transition
Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has oscillated between weak democratic governments and military dictatorships. In 2013, for the first time, there was a peaceful transfer of power from… Read more »
Egypt’s dubious security harvest
One of the main motivations behind Egypt’s 2013 military coup was to counter potential violence and terrorism. Yet one of its main upshots is a surge in violence and… Read more »
ISIS ‘metastasizing’ – losing territory and social media presence
The Islamic State group lost 12% of the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria – an area the size of Ireland – in the first half of 2016,… Read more »
China’s Lhasa Consensus ‘can’t hide the rot underneath’
China last week held a two-day Tibet Development Forum in Lhasa attended by 130 people from 30 countries and organized by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, VOA’s Yeshi Dorje… Read more »
Chilcot report proves Iraq war was not about advancing democracy
The invasion of Iraq has had a huge impact on the debate about democracy in the Middle East—and almost entirely a detrimental one, notes Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow… Read more »
JCPOA failed to open up economic and political space within Iran
Activist Iyad el-Baghdadi had initially hoped that the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would give Iran’s entrepreneurs, reformists, and civil society at large more breathing space:… Read more »
Real danger to the world isn’t Brexit – it’s the rise of illiberalism
Two weeks after Britain’s EU referendum, Europe has defied predictions that the UK’s vote to leave would inspire a surge in copycat breakaway movements, with establishment parties enjoying gains and populists… Read more »