Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

Paradise Papers highlight kleptocracy’s corrosive impact on democracy

     

  A huge leak of financial documents revealed by a group of about 100 media organizations on Sunday provided deep insights into some of the mechanisms used by top politicians and celebrities… Read more »

Democratic renewal must address shifts in West’s political culture

     

Political scientists have long contended that culture matters to the formation and consolidation of democracy. But efforts to renew democracy and challenge authoritarianism will need to pay closer attention to… Read more »

Russia’s ‘strategic deception’ aims to undermine liberal democratic order

     

  America’s top social-media companies — or more precisely, their lawyers — testified before Congress this week, two things became clear. First, the problem is much greater than previously admitted…. Read more »

Disinformation vs. democracy: authoritarians outspending U.S.

     

Authoritarian regimes like Russia and China are outspending the United States in the realm of soft power, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told the National Democratic Institute’s annual Democracy Dinner at… Read more »

North Korea’s regime concedes its vulnerability to soft power

     

North Korea’s regime has admitted its vulnerability to soft power “for the first time,” according to a prominent defector. An editorial in an official newspaper today conceded that information flows… Read more »

A foreign policy for advancing democracy

     

The debate about American foreign policy has always divided along two dimensions. How close in or far out should America protect its security? And for what moral or political purpose… Read more »

Democracies need ‘different narrative’ to counter populists and autocrats’ soft power

     

After the Chinese Communist party’s celebratory 19th congress, which ended last week, some observers proclaimed Xi Jinping a new emperor, notes Harvard University’s Joseph Nye: Mr Xi, for his part,… Read more »

How to attack a democracy: weaponize social media

     

  Between June 2015 and August 2017, millions of Americans were exposed to Facebook ads and posts generated by Russian operatives who sought to influence voter behavior and exploit divisions… Read more »

China’s rise means trade trumps rights, says Hong Kong activist

     

Young Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong warned Wednesday that China’s rise means human rights are in increasingly greater danger of being overshadowed globally by business interests, The Associated Press… Read more »

Will U.S. downplay human rights as it turns to Vietnam as ally against China?

     

On the occasion of the trip to the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, human rights attorney Nguyen Thi Duong Ha (above) has sent a letter on prisoners of conscience in Vietnam… Read more »