Fear and learning: Arab world not finished with democracy
A vibrant protest movement is visible in Iran and across the Middle East — but it isn’t calling for Islamic revolution, much less the tired misrule of the mullahs, The… Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
Putin’s ‘backhanded tribute to democracy’: A global template for new authoritarians?
Russian President Vladimir Putin named a new prime minister, who was confirmed (Reuters) one day after his predecessor resigned along with Russia’s entire cabinet. Putin also proposed changes (FT) in… Read more »
Democracy Embattled: Towards ‘competitive decadence’?
America used to try to design the world, Russia used to try to sabotage those plans. Now things almost look the other way around, analyst Asli Aydintasbas observes. The decline… Read more »
‘Bad algorithms didn’t break democracy’: Time to rebalance information asymmetry?
Technology companies have governments over a barrel, argues Marietje Schaake, international policy director at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. Whether they are maximising traffic flow efficiency, matching pupils with their school… Read more »
‘Beijing’s Global Megaphone’: China waging global propaganda war
Democratic governments should wise up to — and try to thwart — China’s attempts to shape the global narrative about its actions at home and abroad, Freedom House said in… Read more »
Iran’s ‘Chernobyl’ moment? U.S. pursuing strategy of ‘regime disruption’
There have been fresh protests in Tehran more than three days after the Iranian authorities admitted they accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner on January 8, killing 176 people, RFE/RL’s… Read more »
Cuba’s police state exposed: ‘an important blow to the regime’
A former high-ranking judge in Cuba has joined an anti-government activist in revealing information from secret government documents that show the government is holding thousands of inmates on dubious charges… Read more »
How to break out of the democratic slump
For the past twelve years or so, democracy around the world has been in a funk, notes Stanford University’s Larry Diamond. The long democracy slump has seen a surge in… Read more »
Russia ‘gives China a leg up’ in information warfare
The Kremlin’s RT broadcasting service has stepped into the fray between the U.S. and Beijing and provided access to a tool of a sort that China’s Communist Party is… Read more »
Saving democracy from the managerial elite? The case for a new pluralism
Can digital infrastructure be restructured to respect individuals? Can democracy survive a lack of privacy and autonomy? Can the dignity of man survive an omnipresent state? asks Nadia Schadlow, a… Read more »