A ‘dark day for freedom’: Hungary’s democracy ‘dying a slow death’
European Union leaders warned that it was a red line, and dared Hungary not to cross it. The U.S. ambassador pegged the issue as his top priority. In the streets of… Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
Restricting basic freedoms ‘the new global norm’?
Nearly six in ten countries are seriously restricting people’s basic rights of association, peaceful assembly and expression, according to data released by the CIVICUS Monitor, which rates and tracks fundamental freedoms… Read more »
How to counter autocrats’ sharp power: alliances, diversity, governance, & liberty
China is committed to promoting its authoritarian model throughout the world as a superior alternative to Western democracy, says a leading commentator, but U.S. public opinion is divided… Read more »
Connecting democratic leaders for a hemisphere of freedom
As authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela generate sociopolitical turmoil, economic disruption, and human rights abuses, only a concerted international effort by liberal democracies will establish a “hemisphere… Read more »
Can constructive vigilance avert U.S.-China clash of civilizations?
Are China and the United States headed toward a clash of civilizations? The prospect is real, according to a report from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Center… Read more »
AI and malevolent soft power threaten democracy
In the space of less than a decade, the world of social media has gone from being an enabler of to a threat to democracy, argues Brookings analyst Elaine Kamarck…. Read more »
Tibet’s freedom hinges on democracy in China
The death last month of Lodi Gyari, who as the Dalai Lama’s special envoy conducted nine rounds of negotiations with Beijing over Tibet’s status, offers an occasion to reflect on the… Read more »
Countering disinformation in the digital public sphere
The takeaway from two major hearings — one in the United Kingdom convened by legislators from nine countries, another in the U.S. Senate — is that regulators increasingly seem ready… Read more »
‘Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey’ – China’s sharp power at work
When I started as AFP’s bureau chief in Hong Kong in 2014, huge pro-democracy rallies known as the Umbrella Movement were erupting onto the streets, earning their name from the… Read more »
How democracy is destabilized
On Saturday, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a maverick leftist, will become president of Mexico and launch what he has called the country’s “fourth transformation.” A month later, Jair Bolsonaro, a… Read more »