Category: Authoritarianism

Russia’s growing intolerance of dissent

     

Today, at Moscow’s eminent House of Cinematography, pro-Kremlin protesters attacked the award ceremony of an annual student competition organized by the civil society group Memorial, writes Tanya Lokshina of Human… Read more »

Latin America’s democratic moment?

     

When street protests forced Guatemala’s president to step down last fall amid a corruption scandal (left), it seemed a rare break in a long and lucrative tradition of impunity in… Read more »

China prompts criticism with new curbs on foreign NGOs

     

China took a major step on Thursday in President Xi Jinping’s movement away from Western influences and toward stronger social control, as it passed a new law aimed at limiting the work… Read more »

Political violence pushes Bangladesh close to ‘democratic collapse’

     

  Al Qaeda and Islamic State have both sought to gain a foothold in this predominantly Muslim nation of 160 million people, and experts worry that Bangladesh is ill equipped… Read more »

Russia’s internet censor enlists China’s Firewall expertise

     

For an authoritarian government looking to tighten control of an unruly internet, who better to call than the architect of China’s “great firewall”? That was the thinking of Konstantin Malofeev, a multimillionaire… Read more »

Mapping the New Battlespace of Information

     

In the digital age, social media can become a weapon of disinformation and sophisticated propaganda can shape important policy debates. Russia has been an early adopter of these techniques and… Read more »

‘Darkness Before Dawn’ – China’s rights activists

     

  A prominent Uighur scholar who is serving a life sentence for separatism in a Chinese prison was named on Wednesday as a finalist for a prestigious human rights award… Read more »

Strengthening the Liberal World Order

     

The liberal world order that was created in the aftermath of World War II has produced immense benefits for peoples across the planet, says a new analysis from the World… Read more »

Funding Mideast democracy in the face of authoritarian pushback

     

The U.S. Congress has taken note of the dexterity and flexibility of non-governmental democracy assistance groups in responding to the more challenging environment in the Middle East, says a report… Read more »