Category: Democratic institutions

Strategic priorities for advancing democracy

     

Democracy today is being challenged as never before since the end of the Cold War, says Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy. The crisis has many dimensions,… Read more »

Democracy and Human Rights: The Case for U.S. Leadership

     

U.S. Senate Hearing. Thursday, February 16, 2017. Panel One Mr. Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy (left) The Honorable Mark Green, President, International Republican Institute Mr. Kenneth Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute Panel… Read more »

Balkans crisis looming?

     

Southern Europe is where democracy was once invented. But today, many there say that democracy isn’t working for them, analyst Rick Noack writes for The Washington Post: There is no shortage… Read more »

Romania: when the population turns against the populists

     

What happens when the population turns against the populists? Just such a drama is playing out in Romania, a country of 20 million people where hundreds of thousands have poured… Read more »

World entering an “illiberal moment,” a “post-truth, post-West, post-order” era?

     

The world may be heading into an “illiberal moment,” a “post-truth, post-West, post-order” era, characterized by democratic decline and growing support for authoritarian governance, the annual Munich Security Conference has… Read more »

Is Turkey heading toward autocracy?

     

A referendum in Turkey on April 16 will decide whether the country’s parliamentary system is replaced with a stronger presidency. This is something President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hoping for,… Read more »

Anti-torture group’s closure highlights Egypt’s civil society crackdown

     

Egyptian police on Thursday shut down the offices of an organization that treats victims of torture and violence in the latest escalation of a harsh government crackdown against human rights defenders and… Read more »

Governance critical to Syria’s post-conflict stabilization

     

The prospects for the removal of Syria’s Assad regime and a near-term transition to a “moderate opposition” are poorer than ever, according to a new RAND report. But there is… Read more »

Malawi’s corruption prompts democracy group pull-out

     

Malawi’s endemic corruption has prompted the National Democratic Institute to cease funding governance and civil society organizations after five years, reports suggest. “The government and other stake holders should come… Read more »

How Putin became global ideological hero of nationalists, populists

     

Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his current geo-political “prominence because he anticipated the global populist revolt and helped give it ideological shape,” argues analyst Franklin Foer. “With his apocalyptic… Read more »