Myth of Putin starts to crumble
Since the start of the 21st century, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dominated Russian politics. So much so that global media often refer to him as a czar and dictator…. Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
Why Europe’s last dictator’s crackdown will only further radicalize Belarusians
A rare and large-scale protest took place in Belarus on Saturday, when hundreds took to the streets to protest a tax — the so-called “tax on parasites” — against the under-employed,… Read more »
Populist infection need not mean democratic deconsolidation
Whether recent signs of democratic de-consolidation are a predictor of a possible non-democratic backlash, is far from being ascertained, according to Daniele Archibugi, professor of innovation, governance and public… Read more »
Putin critic Navalny jailed as mass protests ‘energize Russian opposition’
A day after Russia saw its largest wave of unsanctioned protests in years, opposition leaders on Monday cheered the turnout as a sign of widespread dissatisfaction with President Vladimir Putin…. Read more »
Why Europe’s ‘last dictator’ is allowing Belarus protests
Where the Soviet system was rigid, today’s autocrats are flexible and pragmatic, writes Freedom House analyst Arch Puddington: Where the older generation of communists were bureaucratic and slothful, today’s dictators… Read more »
Cuba’s economy flat-lines: revolution is over, but dictatorship lives on
Cuba’s insular socialist paradise supposedly offers a social safety-net, cradle to grave. But it is full of holes, The Economist reports: Medical care is free, but most medicine is not…. Read more »
How to curb kleptocrats’ ‘existential threat to democracy’
The irony is that in the century since the Russian Revolution, the “soft” democracies have endured, and the communist system that has collapsed. But the inheritors of the NKVD mantle—the… Read more »
The subtleties – and limits – of China’s soft power
The Chinese government has been trying to sell the country itself as a brand—one that has the ability to attract people from other countries in the way that America does… Read more »
Cambodia’s Communist comrades now capitalist cadres
For years, Tep Khunnal was the devoted personal secretary of Pol Pot, staying loyal to the charismatic ultracommunist leader even as Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge movement collapsed around them in the… Read more »
Turkey heading for dictatorship, exposing underlying ideology
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Europeans on Wednesday that they would no longer be able to walk safely in the street if Western politicians continued with perceived provocations against Turkish… Read more »