Category: Civil Society

Connecting democratic leaders for a hemisphere of freedom

     

  As authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela generate sociopolitical turmoil, economic disruption, and human rights abuses, only a concerted international effort by liberal democracies will establish a “hemisphere… Read more »

Haiti – an anatomy of corruption

     

Recent developments in Haiti highlight civil society’s demands for better governance from its national leaders—shedding light on the interaction between democracy and markets and the practical implications this has on national development, notes Georges… Read more »

Can constructive vigilance avert U.S.-China clash of civilizations? 

     

Are China and the United States headed toward a clash of civilizations?  The prospect is real, according to a report from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Center… Read more »

Tunisia offers ‘tough lesson’ for MBS

     

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi’s hosting of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman caused much discontent and led to large-scale civil society protests in the streets of Tunis, reports suggest…. Read more »

Countering disinformation in the digital public sphere

     

The takeaway from two major hearings — one in the United Kingdom convened by legislators from nine countries, another in the U.S. Senate — is that regulators increasingly seem ready… Read more »

‘Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey’ – China’s sharp power at work

     

When I started as AFP’s bureau chief in Hong Kong in 2014, huge pro-democracy rallies known as the Umbrella Movement were erupting onto the streets, earning their name from the… Read more »

Democracies’ ‘secret weapon’ against China’s sharp power

     

Since Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive party (DPP) won the presidency and a parliamentary majority in 2016, China has ramped up pressure against Taipei on all fronts. Now, the DPP government… Read more »

How to make extremely violent democracies safe

     

The world’s most violent places are polarized, unequal democracies. There is a way to make them safer, argues Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment’s Democracy, Conflict, and… Read more »

Do international observers ‘go easy’ on African elections?

     

  Anecdotal evidence of observers accepting low-quality elections in Africa is easy to find. Yet systematic, empirical evidence has been absent — until now, argues Susan Dodsworth, a research fellow in… Read more »