Category: Authoritarianism

Time to resist China – ‘fueling corruption & autocratic behavior in struggling democracies’

     

Western-style multi-party democracy is inappropriate for Asia, the Chinese state-controlled Global Times said Monday. An op-ed titled “Multi-Party System Misfit in Asian Nations” suggests that pluralist democracy is inherently divisive, and that polarization… Read more »

Turkey’s election: cause for concern to every liberal democracy

     

With his victory in Sunday’s elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken his place among the world’s emerging class of strongman rulers, nailing down the sweeping powers he has insisted he… Read more »

Constitutional democracy’s ‘appeal and superiority can’t be taken for granted’

     

The Turkish election results confirm that security and a thriving economy, despite some recent weakness, trump most traditional democratic values, as many nations begin to shrug off their longstanding democratic exteriors,… Read more »

Time for world to stand up to China’s ‘hegemonic’ sharp power

     

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (left) called on the international community to “constrain” China by standing up for freedoms, casting her island’s giant neighbor as a global threat to democracy. Her… Read more »

Why China won’t democratize anytime soon

     

China has not democratized yet, nor will it anytime soon, because communism’s institutional setup does not allow for successful democratization, argues Stephen Kotkin, Professor in History and International Affairs at… Read more »

How to tackle ‘weapon of mass disinformation – WMD for the modern age’

     

The UK’s most senior representative in the European commission has set out a Brussels plan to crack down on disinformation campaigns executed by Russia and non-state actors, which he suggests were deployed… Read more »

Hope for Turkey’s democracy, even if Erdogan wins

     

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces stiff competition from his opponents, including main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) candidate Muharrem Ince and Iyi (Good) Party leader Meral Aksener, in Sunday’s… Read more »

Kleptocracy and kakistocracy feed on each other

     

In a kleptocracy, criminal behavior is not individual, opportunistic, or sporadic, but rather collective, systematic, strategic, and permanent. It is a system in which all the high-level government officials are complicit, where… Read more »

How West can resist ‘long arm’ of China’s sharp power

     

China, not Russia, is the biggest threat to the United States in the decades to come, according to former secretary of defense Robert Gates who served the previous two U.S…. Read more »