Is global democracy in trouble?
Or does it just feel like it? PRI asks. “We’re not just talking about a recession of democracies, in terms of countries that are democracies. We’re talking about a recession… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
US ‘deeply troubled’ by Russian moves to ban democracy group
Russian authorities have launched investigations against an activist of Russia’s Parnas opposition party, Natalya Pelevina, RFE/RL reports. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the opposition leader being checked for her role in… Read more »
Iran trying to shut down UN Human Rights investigation
Iran executed nearly 1,000 prisoners last year, the highest number in two decades, and hundreds of journalists, activists and opposition figures languish in custody, a United Nations investigator said on… Read more »
China’s NGO law remains a work in progress
It has been more than two years since the Chinese government proposed tighter controls on foreign nongovernmental organizations, prompting fears for the future of a wide range of groups active… Read more »
‘Unprecedented’ pressure on Russia’s opposition, as NDI deemed undesirable
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has declared the activities of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs to be undesirable in the latest of a series of measures designed to… Read more »
China urges diplomats, U.N. to boycott Dalai Lama
China has written to diplomats and U.N. officials urging them not to attend a Geneva event on Friday where the Dalai Lama [above, center] will speak, reasserting that it… Read more »
Moderates’ election gains ‘a setback to Iranian democracy’
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday hailed last month’s elections that saw gains for allies of moderate President Hassan Rouhani, denying they lacked competition, AFP reports: The February… Read more »
Why illiberal democracies?
The rise of illiberal democracy in Central Europe is at least partly due to incomplete or inadequate democratic transitions from Communist rule, Le Monde’s Sylvie Kaufmann writes for The New… Read more »
Cuba says Obama trip won’t alter `revolutionary’ regime
The Cuban government today said it won’t renounce its “revolutionary and anti-imperialist” ideals as relations with the U.S. thaw ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to the Communist island this… Read more »
Central Europe’s fascist revival
Slovakia’s March 6 general elections have catapulted a neo-fascist party into parliament and strengthened the position of another ultra-nationalist formation, notes analyst Janusz Bugajski. The results highlight a broader European… Read more »