Category: Authoritarianism

Kenya poll highlights East Africa’s fragile democracies

     

  Kenyans vote Thursday in a repeat presidential election that has East Africa’s economic power on edge once more, AP reports: The Supreme Court shocked Africa last month by nullifying… Read more »

How to defend against Russia’s disinformation war

     

  Facebook has been told to hand over evidence of Russian meddling in British politics to MPs, The Daily Telegraph reports: The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee has demanded… Read more »

As APEC Summit looms, Vietnam escalates crackdown on rights campaigners

     

  Vietnam should drop all charges and immediately release student blogger Phan Kim Khanh, Human Rights Watch said today. Vietnam’s donors and regional leaders should make it clear that they will… Read more »

Political Islam After the Arab Spring: Between Jihad and Democracy?

     

  Around 1,000 Indonesians, led by hardline Islamist groups, protested outside parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers approved a presidential decree banning civil organizations deemed to go against the country’s secular… Read more »

Does Xi – China’s most powerful leader since Mao – plan to ‘do a Putin’?

     

China’s ruling party moved on Tuesday to confirm Xi Jinping’s status as the country’s most powerful leader in decades by adding his name and ideology to its constitution. Xi’s concept… Read more »

Responding to Russia’s resurgence

     

  Russian propaganda is designed to show Putin “as an important leader on the world stage, as the equivalent of the American president, much as during the Cold War, says… Read more »

Kremlin disinformation to blame for ‘outrageous’ move against Browder?

     

A critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly had his visa revoked by the State Department, according to multiple reports, The Hill reports. British citizen Bill Browder [left] tweeted… Read more »

Media capture: how toxic mix of money and power undermines journalism

     

    What kind of media, political parties and politicians do we need to re-connect with citizens? political scientist Georgios Kolliarakis and Open Democracy’s Rosemary Bechler ask. Is the problem… Read more »

China’s Plan to Buy Influence and Undermine Democracy

     

  To enhance its economic and political clout, China has made substantial inroads across Southeast Asia on the back of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and investment deals, notes analyst Philip Heijmans. This… Read more »

$18bn boost for Open Society – but CEU held in ‘legal limbo’

     

George Soros, who built one of the world’s largest fortunes through a famous series of trades, has turned over nearly $18 billion to Open Society Foundations, according to foundation officials,… Read more »