The closing of civic space has become a defining feature of political life in an ever-increasing number of countries, notes Saskia Brechenmacher, an associate fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy and Rule… Read more »
The presidential election in Iran this Friday is being billed as yet another contest in which a spirited but ineffectual reformer is fighting it out with a hard-boiled theocrat. Meanwhile,… Read more »
Poland’s alleged slide from democracy came under scrutiny from fellow European Union states on Tuesday, with some openly questioning the nationalist government in Warsaw’s commitment to EU values, Reuters reports:… Read more »
Tensions are rising between west and east and over the Balkans. Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and other Balkan countries that aspire to EU membership remain a long way from entry because… Read more »
Several recent analyses depict Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is set to meet with President Trump in the White House on Tuesday, as a once moderate and liberal politician… Read more »
One of Africa’s most stable democracies is quietly drifting into authoritarian rule, notes Nic Cheeseman of the University of Birmingham. Until now, Zambia’s progress under multi-party politics has been quietly… Read more »
Russia has recently been accused of stoking tensions in the Balkans by waging ‘information warfare’ in the region, notes Jarosław Wiśniewski. Even if these allegations are true, the West should… Read more »
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is alarmed by the political wave of rising populism, nativism, protectionism and isolationism, calling them “the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” Global Politico reports…. Read more »
Mashal Khan was never afraid to speak his mind. The 23-year-old journalism student was known for questioning his peers and speaking out against injustice and corruption, the Guardian reports: But… Read more »
Authoritarian regimes are mobilizing and orchestrating ‘uncivil’ society groups and illiberal non-state actors against democratic forces, reports suggest. The uniformed men who shot Venezuelan pro-democracy demonstrator Carlos Moreno were not… Read more »