To understand Central Europe ’s illiberal metamorphosis, bear in mind that the region’s political imperative for almost three decades was “Imitate the West!” That process went by different names –… Read more »
2009 Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture: Nathan Glazer from National Endowment for Democracy on Vimeo. Nathan Glazer, a prominent sociologist and public intellectual who assisted on a classic study of conformity,… Read more »
Facebook has entered a new era of cautious glasnost, inviting researchers to look ‘under the hood’ of various aspects of its operations, and understand how it formulates and implements… Read more »
How are we to understand the resurgence of authoritarianism? What form does it now take? What responsibility do elites bear for its success? These are among the most important questions… Read more »
Venezuela has more oil than Saudi Arabia and more poverty than Colombia. Once one of Latin America’s richest countries, it’s now plagued with shortages of everything from toilet paper to antibiotics and food, The… Read more »
The competition of democracy versus dictatorship is to a degree a contest of narratives, argues Richard Fontaine, President of the Center for a New American Security. “Beijing and others peddle a… Read more »
What role do the interplay of new and old media play in getting authoritarian demagogues elected? How do new media platforms supercharge the spread of conspiracy theories and false ideas?… Read more »
Bolivia’s Evo Morales, a former leader of a coca-growers’ union, has won three elections fairly and by large margins. He hopes to win a fourth in October. But his attempts… Read more »
The West is now rudderless. To be rudderless puts you at the mercy of elements. The elemental forces of politics today are tribalism, populism, authoritarianism and the sewage pipes of… Read more »
Many liberal democracies are encountering serious problems while authoritarianism appears to be enjoying a global surge of self-confidence. As a result, not only are doubts about the value and wisdom of democracy… Read more »