Kremlin still unable to destroy Russia’s civil society
Despite all his efforts since the start of his time in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin has not been able to destroy Russian civil society, says Grigory Okhotin, the co-founder of… Read more »
Category: Authoritarianism
China gaining sharp power edge in Southeast Asia
The United States has lost influence to China in Southeast Asia over the past five years, a leading Australian think-tank said today. According to a report released by Sydney’s Lowy Institute,… Read more »
A ‘striking process of detransition’: MENA autocrats aim to bury the Arab Spring
The violence in Khartoum, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has killed hundreds of people and left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions… Read more »
Does ‘democracy aid’ really promote democracy?
Does democracy assistance really help advance democracy? And, if so, what forms of aid are most effective? Employing the Varieties of Democracy Index, and OECD/DAC aid data from all donors… Read more »
UK sanctions follow Kara-Murza’s ‘Stalinist’ sentence
Britain on Friday sanctioned a Russian judge and four others linked to the arrest and alleged poisonings of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza who was jailed for 25 years this week… Read more »
Is Tunisia’s democracy being destroyed?
Tunisia’s tragic descent from Arab Spring democracy into dictatorship is continuing with the arrest and detention of Rached Ghannouchi, the world’s most important Islamic democrat and the spiritual leader of… Read more »
Putin myth of autocratic competence exposed
Putin’s ill-fated war in Ukraine risks the complete annihilation of the myth of autocratic competence, notes Kathryn Stoner, the Mosbacher Director of Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the… Read more »
China: The dove or the dog?
Last Saturday, just hours after Xi Jinping sipped tea with Emmanuel Macron while calling for peace in Ukraine, fighter jets flew across the Taiwan Strait in a display of Chinese… Read more »
Why we should promote democracy – ‘with humility and restraint’
Max Boot (“What the Neocons Got Wrong,” March 10) deserves praise for some serious soul-searching, the Carnegie Endowment’s Thomas Carothers observes. Yet in renouncing his prior belief in military-led regime… Read more »
Stress testing a grand strategy of democratic solidarity
As competition (or even conflict) with Russia and China deepens, the US may see an advantage in returning democracy and human rights promotion to the first tier of policy instruments… Read more »