Category: Civil Society

Egypt’s draft NGO law bans independent civil society groups

     

A new law drafted by Egypt’s parliament would effectively prohibit independent non-governmental groups in the country by subjecting their work and funding to control by government authorities, including powerful security… Read more »

China’s ‘Great Leap Backward’

     

A bipartisan strategic assessment underlies a widely-shared assumption about the likely direction of China’s development, notes a leading analyst. This was not the simplistic faith that if China became richer,… Read more »

‘Tyrant is dead, tyranny continues’: Cuban dissidents fear post-Castro crackdown

     

While Cuban-Americans partied in the streets of Miami after Fidel Castro died, dissidents in Cuba stayed home, fearing more repression though some hope his brother Raul will enact reforms, AFP… Read more »

Governance, stability are interdependent in Arab world, says report

     

The optimism experienced at popular prodemocracy mobilization in 2011 has turned to dismay and worry at the metastasizing violence that characterizes today’s Middle East and North Africa, according to Real… Read more »

How to stop corruption, curb kleptocracy

     

This week’s protests in Malaysia have again highlighted the political pathologies associated with rampant corruption and kleptocracy. Even in advanced liberal democracies like the UK, kleptocrats are using London’s property… Read more »

The Crisis of Postnationalism

     

Nationalism paired with democracy makes for a difficult marriage, but any prospect of divorce is wishful thinking, according to a leading scholar. Like religion, nationalism was supposed to wither away… Read more »

From Arab Spring to Arab crisis: a future for democracy in MENA?

     

A recent news item on the BBC’s English website neatly captured the sharp contrast in how, five years later, various Arab rulers, citizens and non-Arab observers view the popular uprisings… Read more »