Category: Civil Society

Existential risk to civil society in ‘skillfully veiled authoritarian’ Hungary

     

Hungary’s illiberal leader has built what Paul Lendvai in his new book, “Orbán,” calls a “skillfully veiled authoritarian system,” notes James Kirchick, a visiting fellow at the Center on the… Read more »

Sharp elbows behind China’s sharp power

     

Despite his stridently nationalist rhetoric, Beijing’s ‘sharp power’ poses no threat to other nations, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speaking at the close of the annual session of the… Read more »

Can Saudi Arabia help win ‘Islam’s War of Ideas’?

     

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is in Washington, D.C., March 19-22, the third stop on his first foreign trip as crown prince, notes the Project on Middle East Democracy: Mohammed… Read more »

The ‘fascist’ philosopher inspiring Russia’s kleptocrats

     

An advocate of Russian fascism is having a profound influence on the discourse of the country’s politicians and kleptocrats,* including Vladimir Putin, according to a leading commentator. Because Ivan Ilyin (left)… Read more »

A Brezhnev moment: ‘coronation’ takes Putin a step closer to leader-for-life

     

  With his reelection, Vladimir Putin took one step closer to becoming Russia’s leader for life.  On paper, Putin’s victory gave him a new six-year term as president. But some… Read more »

Defending democracy: best responses to weaponized information

     

  Russia is likely to adopt innovative active measures as it seeks to interfere in future elections. Instead of fighting the last war, we should expect a new Kremlin meddling… Read more »

Cuba – ‘the worst kind of dictatorship’ – denies entry to ex-presidents

     

Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana and ex-Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga said they were denied entry to Cuba on Wednesday, after traveling to the Communist-run island to receive an award from… Read more »

Do Asia’s autocrats outperform democrats?

     

While authoritarian regimes can show brief flashes of brilliance (remember Sputnik), they’ve proven again and again incapable of sustaining the creativity and innovation necessary for long-term economic success, analyst Michael… Read more »

Ukraine is ‘on the brink’ of kleptocracy

     

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, has warned that international donors cannot dictate laws to the country, amid a stand-off over demands for Kiev to set up an independent anti-corruption court that… Read more »

Digital Counterterrorism: Fighting Jihadists Online

     

In 2015, the International Republican Institute – a core institute of the National Endowment for Democracy – developed a Task Force of Western Balkan legislators, academics and thought leaders focused… Read more »