Category: Civil Society

Advancing democracy at the root of American ‘exceptionalism’

     

The classic liberal internationalist vision of a global Pax Democratica lies at the root of American “exceptionalism,” according to Tony Smith, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Tufts University, and… Read more »

How central Europe’s high hopes gave way to creeping authoritarianism

     

The central European states were the vanguards of communism’s collapse in the late 1980s, prompting a sense of inevitability about democracy’s benign coming, reinforced by the diverse figures who stepped… Read more »

Why Russia is ignoring first flirtation with liberalism

     

Russia’s February Revolution is one of history’s great “What if” moments, says the University of Queensland’s John Quiggin. If this revolution — which actually took place in early March 1917… Read more »

Electoral espionage is ‘political warfare’

     

Russia “is up to all sorts of no good,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said today, two days after announcing a plan to visit Moscow. “They are, I’m afraid, engaged… Read more »

Ukraine democratic transition ‘being driven from bottom-up’

     

Ukraine is set to launch its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, seeking an order to halt Moscow’s support for pro-Russia separatists in… Read more »

Sudan frees human rights activists

     

Human rights and democracy advocates are expressing relief at the release of Sudanese civil society activists convicted of publishing fake reports or spying: Khalafalla Al-Afif, Midhat Hamdan and Mustafa Adam… Read more »

Eastern Europe’s populists emboldened in limiting ‘foreign’ NGOs

     

Populist leaders across Central and Eastern Europe are mounting simultaneous crackdowns on nongovernmental organizations that promote open government, aid refugees and often serve as checks on authoritarian governments, The New… Read more »

‘Revolutionary situation unfolding’ in Belarus

     

A tax on “social parasites” is stirring up public angst in Belarus, according to reports. A classic revolutionary situation may be unfolding in Europe’s last dictatorship, notes analyst Leon Aron:… Read more »

Ideological aggression to be expected from ‘Putin: Operative in the Kremlin’

     

The Kremlin’s ‘active measures’ to undermine Western democracies mark a more aggressive step up from Russia’s earlier efforts to assert soft power, discussed here by Brookings analyst Fiona Hill. Meanwhile,… Read more »

EU leaders ‘idle’ in face of Russia’s information warfare?

     

European Union leaders remain idle in the face of Russia’s information warfare, which is increasing the Kremlin’s influence on public opinion in the West, reports suggest. “Russians know the art… Read more »