Category: Civil Society

Russia’s tainted leaks target civil society

     

  Russia-linked cyber espionage campaigns targeting Western elections have dominated the media in recent months. As serious as these events are, often overlooked in both media and industry reports on… Read more »

‘Principled realism’ sacrificing human rights, democracy in ‘value-neutral transactions’?

     

Does a foreign policy of “principled realism” necessarily entail sidelining human rights concerns and offering few critiques of authoritarian leaders’ records on democracy, the rule of law and protecting essential… Read more »

Why ‘countering violent extremism’ falls short

     

Young people are most vulnerable to terrorist radicalization and greater efforts should be made to prevent youth from being misled by violent extremists, said OSCE Chair Sebastian Kurz yesterday as… Read more »

Sustainable security depends on vitality of democratic institutions, civil society

     

Security and prosperity depend on the vitality of democratic institutions, including civil society, but loose definitions of terrorism are being exploited to close civic space and enhance authoritarian politics, according to… Read more »

A world without participation? Mapping civil society’s achievements

     

  In April 2017, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated the Kola Ecological Center, a small environmental group in Russia’s Murmansk region, a “foreign agent,” notes Saskia Brechenmacher, an associate fellow in… Read more »

After Rouhani’s election, now for Iran’s more important transition

     

Now that Iran has gone to the ballot to elect a president, U.S. policymakers should turn their attention to a more important transition in the offing, argues Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow at the… Read more »

Closing civic space eases creeping authoritarianism

     

The closing of civic space has become a defining feature of political life in an ever-increasing number of countries, according to Civil Society Under Assault: Repression and Responses, a new… Read more »

New corruption scandal a further blow to Brazil’s democracy

     

Brazilian President Michel Temer is once again under fire, this time amid reports that prosecutors have obtained recordings of him discussing hush money payments with a jailed associate. The obstruction… Read more »

Post 9/11 wars not about promoting democracy, says Condoleezza Rice

     

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that U.S.-led interventions in the Middle East and Central Asia were not about spreading democracy, but about addressing regional security issues, Newsweek… Read more »