How the forward march of democracy was halted
Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, and of the apparent triumph of American values and power, U.S. policymakers now confront the very basic question of which values… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
Why democracy promotion has been superseded by ‘autocracy promotion’
The English language used to be an asset of the British and American democracies. Now it has become a weakness, argues the FT’s Simon Kuper: English-speaking countries are particularly easy… Read more »
‘New generation’ of populist demagogues threaten human rights
The rise of populist leaders poses a dangerous threat to basic rights protections while encouraging abuse by autocrats around the world, Human Rights Watch said today in launching its… Read more »
Vietnam will hedge its bets on Kerry trip
John Kerry is to bring down the curtain on the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia with a trip to Vietnam, a country at the heart of the international security struggle… Read more »
Signs of deconsolidation? Democracy being tested, Obama warns
President Barack Obama has called on Americans to defend democracy in his farewell speech in Chicago, warning “democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted.” “Democracy can buckle… Read more »
Paradox of Progress: increased risk of conflict calls democracy into question
Economic and technological advances have enhanced human wealth and possibilities, but that same progress is disrupting the state-centered global order and creating potential pitfalls, according to Global Trends: Paradox of… Read more »
Canada’s new FM a critic of Russia’s ‘authoritarian kleptocracy’
Canada has named Chrystia Freeland, a prominent critic of Russia who was banned by Moscow in 2014, as its new minister of foreign affairs, The Guardian reports: In 2014,… Read more »
Azerbaijan’s ‘Caviar Diplomacy’ exposed
Prominent Azerbaijani blogger Mehman Huseynov (left) whose efforts to expose high-level corruption have irked President Ilham Aliyev’s government has been detained and charged with disobeying the police, Radio Free Europe/Radio… Read more »
Populism: democratic part of liberal democracy ‘taking revenge’ on liberal part
British Prime Minister Theresa May today blamed complacent mainstream politicians, unscrupulous business people, social media and globalization for a breakdown in 21st century society and the rise of populist parties,… Read more »
Democracies in a new global competition of ideas
Moscow has made information and asymmetrical warfare central to its foreign and military policy, analyst Fareed Zakaria writes for The Washington Post: The idea of information warfare is not new…. Read more »