Category: Democracy and foreign policy

Five transformations require ‘fresh thinking’ on advancing democracy

     

The thirty years since the end of the cold war have been a time of extraordinary change, notes Jessica T. Mathews, a Distinguished Fellow at (and former President of) the… Read more »

Democracy Embattled: Towards ‘competitive decadence’?

     

America used to try to design the world, Russia used to try to sabotage those plans. Now things almost look the other way around, analyst  Asli Aydintasbas observes. The decline… Read more »

Art of Deceit: West’s strategic culture impedes political warfare against autocrats’ sharp power

     

Authoritarian states have taken a “whole-of-government” approach to weaponizing previously benign activities like diplomacy, media, investment flows, and civil society activity, says a new report. But their activities betray a… Read more »

Democracies on the verge of a nervous breakdown?

     

If there’s a word that sums up the current mood of the West’s high command, it’s this: despair. That’s the clearest and most alarming takeaway from discussions with the assorted… Read more »

Democratic ideas resilient despite leadership void

     

  A number of recent reports paint a grim picture for the future of global democracy. According to watchdog Freedom House, 2018 marked the 13th consecutive year of decline in global… Read more »

Upholding democratic values needs strong norms & operational principles

     

The cluster of organizations around the National Endowment for Democracy has evolved into “a huge apparatus” with its strong norms and operational principles, one expert observes, at a time when… Read more »

A new infrastructure of democracy? Open societies’ resilience is strategic priority

     

Had Ronald Reagan’s Westminster speech merely articulated the case for democracy, it would be remembered as one of many well-written and inspiring presidential addresses. It was, on the contrary, much… Read more »

National security still tied to fate of freedom, democratic solidarity

     

  Today, sophisticates on both the political Left and Right argue that the United States has no business supporting the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people, or that Iraqis were… Read more »

Democracies vs. dictatorships: Where’s the Grand Strategy?

     

Now is the time to think faster, more creatively and more strategically about shaping the future before losing too many of the gains in the spread of democracy and prosperity… Read more »

When foreign meddling backfires, can democrats advance?

     

The authoritarian resurgence threatens to bring back the great power competition that caused so much destruction during the first half of the 20th century, argues Mathew J. Burrows, director of… Read more »