China and the embarrassment of Western democracy
The turmoil of democracy in the West represent a shift in the balance of soft power in the world. Europe and America, in confusion and uncertainty, today look unimpressive. It… Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
Countering authoritarianism in cyberspace
Authoritarian regimes are increasingly adept at fragmenting and controlling the internet for purposes of censorship, surveillance, and internal and external propaganda and misinformation, note analysts Mario Loyola and James K…. Read more »
China: CCP’s survival strategy ‘exhausted’?
Some may dismiss Gao Zhisheng’s prediction of the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party as the wishful thinking of a persecuted dissident, says Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment… Read more »
‘Cultural counter-revolution’ tests Polish democracy
Divisions have heightened as the scope of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party’s ambition has become clear: to roll back the social liberalism that has flourished since communism collapsed and shift… Read more »
‘Dual threat’ from authoritarians, populists saps democracy, watchdog says
The resurgence of authoritarian powers and the emergence of “populist and nationalist forces” in democratic states have prompted a deterioration of democracy and growing threats to civil liberties, U.S.-based watchdog… Read more »
China: Struggle at the Top
If democracy has an advantage over authoritarianism, it is that the struggles of interest, power, and ego that are the unavoidable stuff of human life take place in the open,… Read more »
‘Hegemonic transition’? China stakes claim for globalism without liberalism
Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister of 32 years’ standing, has experienced the benevolent embrace of both the west and China. But there is no doubt over Mr Hun Sen’s preferred… Read more »
Russia’s new generation warfare ‘made a mockery of West’s soft power
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is furious at a decision to let Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin mouthpiece launch a blistering attack on Britain from inside the House of Commons, Russian spin doctor… Read more »
Veteran Polish dissident braced for fresh battle
After years in jail as a dissident under communism, Adam Michnik took part in the groundbreaking 1989 Round Table talks that brought semi-free elections to Poland and helped bring down… Read more »
Azerbaijan abuse allegations mar high-profile trial
The Azerbaijan authorities should release 18 people, including a prominent religious scholar and a leading political opposition activist, who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences on January… Read more »