Arab world needs new social contract
Back in 2011 and 2012, the root causes and drivers of the pro-democracy ‘Arab Spring’ protests were clear. The notion of a “new social contract” came to symbolise the popular… Read more »
Category: Democratic institutions
Sisi turns against Egypt’s labor unions
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is turning against the unions that have helped put him in power. The state has set its sights on the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade… Read more »
Georgia’s turn to the West no cause for complacency
Democracy has been in retreat across Eurasia in recent years, and in many countries, the lure of Western political models has faded. But Georgia has been an exception, note analysts… Read more »
Democracy means legitimacy for Indonesia’s counter-terrorism policy
The case of Indonesia demonstrates that in countering violent extremism, democracy and serious efforts to gain legitimacy from the people before taking action are a necessary part of a… Read more »
Fragile states need strategic, systemic, selective, and sustained response
Fragile states may seem like a distant and abstract concern, but they are not, according to William J. Burns, Michèle A. Flournoy, and Nancy E. Lindborg. They are at… Read more »
Repressing civil society a recipe for failure, autocrats told
Autocratic regimes which repress civil society and curb human rights are “pursuing policies that will almost certainly fail,” according to Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of… Read more »
Jordan election a ‘small step toward democratic reform’
Jordan‘s parliament election on Tuesday is being touted as proof that the pro-Western monarchy is moving forward with democratic reforms despite regional turmoil and security threats, AP’s Karin Laub writes:… Read more »
Civil Society in Eastern Europe and Eurasia: Thriving, or Just Surviving?
Is the trend to restrict civil society, visible in Russia and neighboring countries, getting worse? In some of the countries of the former communist world, it has become more difficult… Read more »
Inside Google’s AI-powered war on trolls
Mass harassment online has proved so effective that it’s emerging as a weapon of repressive governments, notes analyst Andy Greenberg. In late 2014, Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro reported on Russia’s… Read more »
Back to the Dark Side? Challenges to Democracy in Latin America
Until a few years ago, it was the consensus among academics and practitioners that democracy had finally solidified in Latin America and the Caribbean. Most political leaders and citizens alike… Read more »