‘American original’ Robert Pickus spoke truth to power
Robert Pickus, who devoted his life to developing non-violent alternatives to war, died on Friday in St. Helena, Ca. He was 92, The New York Times reports: War, he argued,… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
Oil price collapse good news for Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts
The global collapse of oil prices is good news for Ukraine, says Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of Ukraine: What Went Wrong and How… Read more »
Authoritarian trendsetters’ antidemocratic toolkit
Authoritarian trendsetters have created a modern antidemocratic toolkit that in many ways serves as the mirror image of democratic soft power, the National Endowment for Democracy’s Christopher Walker writes… Read more »
Democracy in an age of anxiety: freedom the first casualty of fear
The fearful era in which we live is not conducive to defending democratic standards or extending democracy’s reach, according to the latest edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index…. Read more »
Zimbabwe court ruling hailed by activists
Zimbabwe‘s top court has outlawed marriage for anyone under the age of 18 in a ruling hailed by activists as major progress towards ending child marriage, Agence France Presse reports:… Read more »
Gabon-France spat could boost opposition
Gabon this week recalled its ambassador to Paris after France’s prime minister appeared to question the legitimacy of President Ali Bongo’s election in 2009, Reuters reports: The latest sign of… Read more »
Deriding support for democracy is counterproductive
It has become fashionable in some circles to pooh-pooh support for democracy, but Tunisia provides the Arab Spring’s “one encouraging success story”, even if its success is fragile, its economy… Read more »
Supporting internationalism in a dangerous world
The alternatives to U.S. leadership are few, according to former senators Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who jointly worked on the American Internationalism Project, an impressive bipartisan undertaking… Read more »
Forces of change coming to Iran?
Iran‘s president has called on the committee vetting candidates for next month’s parliamentary elections to allow more reformists to stand. In a televised speech, Hassan Rouhani said parliament was… Read more »
Brazil rejuvenates democratic governance in digital age
Brazil is in a state of political turmoil, notes Daniel O’Maley, Associate Editor at the National Endowment for Democracy’s Center for International Media Assistance: An investigation into a decades-old kickback… Read more »