Russia must abandon ‘false democracy’ – Putin ally
Russia must “stop playing false democracy” in order to combat a “hybrid war” waged against it by the U.S., the chief of the country’s powerful Investigative Committee said. Russian… Read more »
Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion
Isolation and propaganda: roots and instruments of Russia’s soft power
Russia’s fairly successful propaganda in the West shows that political pluralism and open societies have some significant vulnerabilities compared to authoritarian states, with regard to speed of decision-making and action,… Read more »
Tunisia can ‘save’ Arab democracy. Really?
To have a good foreign policy, policymakers need to have good assumptions about the way the world works, notes Council on Foreign Relations analyst Steven A. Cook, who writes that… Read more »
Cuba minister calls Obama trip ‘an attack’ as Communists defend ideology
U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Communist-led Cuba was an “attack” on its history and culture aimed at misleading a new business class, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday,… Read more »
Russia should learn from China’s internet censorship, says official
The head of Russia’s Central Investigative Committee has urged the country’s officials to step up control of the internet, using China’s experience as a model to counter pressure from… Read more »
Ukrainians want reform, oligarchs block it
Ukrainians are growing increasingly frustrated with their government and the slow pace of reforms, especially when it comes to tackling corruption, according to a new nationwide poll released today by the International… Read more »
Resistance beats compliance to totalitarian temptation
“Watching the Moon at Night” raises fundamental questions about issues that continue to haunt the modern world, and it also records and presents the views of some leading intellectuals –… Read more »
Europe’s troubled neighborhood: From ‘circle of friends’ to ‘ring of fire’?
Sustaining stable, democratic, and economically-successful states in its surrounding regions is a strategic priority and core interest for the European Union. However, Europe’s neighborhood is currently confronting a series of… Read more »
Burma’s troubled transition
On April 5, Francis Fukuyama, Director of Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law held an interview with FSI Senior Fellow Larry Diamond on Burma’s recent… Read more »
Soft Power the Russian Way: Proxy Groups in the Contested Neighbourhood
Anxious about losing ground to Western influence in the post-Soviet space and the ousting of many pro-Russia elites by popular electoral uprisings, the Kremlin has developed a wide range… Read more »