A foreign policy for advancing democracy
The debate about American foreign policy has always divided along two dimensions. How close in or far out should America protect its security? And for what moral or political purpose… Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
How to attack a democracy: weaponize social media
Between June 2015 and August 2017, millions of Americans were exposed to Facebook ads and posts generated by Russian operatives who sought to influence voter behavior and exploit divisions… Read more »
China’s rise means trade trumps rights, says Hong Kong activist
Young Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong warned Wednesday that China’s rise means human rights are in increasingly greater danger of being overshadowed globally by business interests, The Associated Press… Read more »
Will U.S. downplay human rights as it turns to Vietnam as ally against China?
On the occasion of the trip to the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, human rights attorney Nguyen Thi Duong Ha (above) has sent a letter on prisoners of conscience in Vietnam… Read more »
Culture or economics? What is populism and how did it happen?
In the face of populist fantasists and authoritarians, liberal democrats must draw inspiration from Cicero and Jefferson and reaffirm the wonders of democracy, argues Philip Collins, the author of… Read more »
Time to contest China’s vision of global leadership
At the 19th Communist Party Congress, China’s President Xi Jinping declared that a “new era” had begun. Xi set out a vision of a political system directly opposed to Western values of democracy… Read more »
Ideas and prospects for democratic renewal
The assumption that autocracy is a feasible alternative to liberal democracy is understandable. When representative democracy fell before, it fell in that direction. It also fits the trend of events… Read more »
China’s secret ‘magic weapon’ for global soft power
Xi Jinping is quietly ramping up the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist party in a push for global “soft power”, The FT’s James Kynge writes in a… Read more »
Losing faith in the democratic ideal?
What accounts for the troubled condition of liberal democracy today? Marc F. Plattner asks in the latest issue of The Journal of Democracy: Standard explanations cite factors such as slowing… Read more »
Chinese exceptionalism? Ideology rules in CCP’s new top team
A number of major western news groups whose coverage has irked Beijing were excluded from Xi Jinping’s unveiling of China’s new ruling council on Wednesday – in some cases for the… Read more »