Category: Authoritarianism

Putin’s ‘masterclass in despotism’ threatens Ukraine’s fragile democracy

     

A Russian court has ordered several of the Ukrainian sailors who were captured by Russian coast-guard forces during a confrontation at sea off Crimea to be held in custody for… Read more »

‘Defanging’ China: how to counter Beijing’s ‘illiberal sphere of influence’

     

Over the course of his first five-year term, Chinese President Xi Jinping passed up repeated opportunities to avert rivalry with Washington, argues Ely Ratner, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies… Read more »

Democracies’ ‘secret weapon’ against China’s sharp power

     

Since Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive party (DPP) won the presidency and a parliamentary majority in 2016, China has ramped up pressure against Taipei on all fronts. Now, the DPP government… Read more »

Two Decades of Combating Terrorism: a ‘democracy advantage’?

     

  Nearly four times as many Sunni Islamic militants are operating around the world today as on Sept. 11, 2001, despite nearly two decades of American-led campaigns to combat Al… Read more »

‘Striking fragility’ in willingness to defend core democratic values?

     

The illiberal attitudes underpinning the populist upsurge in Europe are not unique to that continent, analysts suggest. There is a striking fragility in Americans’ willingness to defend core democratic values,… Read more »

Persuasive populism enters the mainstream

     

Populist parties have more than tripled their support in Europe in the last 20 years, securing enough votes to put their leaders into government posts in 11 countries and challenging… Read more »

Biggest threat to democracy ‘coming from within’?

     

For years after the end of the Cold Year it was possible to believe democracy was on the march across the globe. Now there are as many reasons to believe… Read more »

Egypt: mass arrests aim ‘to quash what remains of civil society’

     

Egypt’s police and National Security Agency (NSA) forces have conducted a mass arrest campaign, rounding up at least 40 human rights workers, lawyers, and political activists since late October 2018,… Read more »

Iran’s militia allies ready to ‘call the shots’ in Iraq’s parliament?

     

The killing of a Muslim cleric who demonstrated over poor public services in Basra undermines the pillars of democracy in Iraq, a member of the parliament-elected Iraqi High Commission for… Read more »

The Power of Focus: Proposal for a ‘European Magnitsky Act’

     

Germany has halted arms sales to Riyadh and agreed with France to place a travel ban on several Saudi nationals following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, raising international pressure on… Read more »