Category: Democratic institutions

‘Like pre-9/11’? Making sense of hybrid warfare

     

You cannot write a credible National Security Strategy today that ignores one of the biggest ongoing current threats to American national security: Russia’s effort to undermine our democratic institutions and… Read more »

Kremlin stoking illiberalism in Western Balkans?

     

Recent political developments in the Western Balkans have led the European Union to re-focus its attention on the region, notes analyst Tzveta Dryanovska. Countries in southeastern Europe have been struggling… Read more »

Russia’s ‘active measures’ – worse than you thought

     

Russia’s efforts to hack the 2016 presidential election were much more widespread than originally thought. The Russian campaign hit 39 states — twice as many as originally reported — and… Read more »

Will Russia’s growing protests crystallize into a new opposition?

     

Baton-wielding riot police broke up anti-corruption protests and detained hundreds of demonstrators in Moscow and other Russian cities on Monday soon after arresting opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Reuters reports: The… Read more »

35 years after Reagan’s Westminster Address: Reclaiming American Realism?

     

Advancing U.S. interests take should precedence over defending the “liberal international order” and the U.S. should not use its “national strength to uphold a fictive international community”, according to foreign… Read more »

Time to take idea of the West back from the populists

     

The very populists who happily speak in the name of the West have proven to be the most immediate threat to Western political principles, a threat from within, notes Michael Kimmage, a… Read more »

Why authoritarians flop as economic modernizers

     

Poor countries like India should resist the authoritarian temptation and stick to pushing smart reforms through the democratic process, argues Noah Smith, an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook… Read more »

Countering disinformation operations in the Baltic States

     

The Baltic states have been heavily targeted by disinformation campaigns waged by Russia. But Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are, however, hardened and sensitized to information attacks, having learnt many lessons from… Read more »

Tackle ideological roots of jihadism to counter terrorism

     

The increasing threat of terrorism has not just influenced American perceptions of the liberal international order. It has had an impact in European democracies as well, contributing to Brexit and… Read more »

Democracies must not fall for terrorism’s ‘strategy of provocation’

     

How can democracies combat terrorism without undermining liberal democratic norms and institutions? Following the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, British Prime Minister Theresa May has proposed restricting internet freedom… Read more »