Democracies divided over Venezuela’s ‘Mafia State’
The power outage that left most of Venezuela without electricity for five days in early March seemed eerily symbolic of the mood among many people there. Living through one of… Read more »
Category: Democratic Transitions
Ethiopia’s transition hits rough patch: Abiy needs support from abroad
One year ago this month, Dr. Abiy Ahmed was sworn in as prime minister of Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch reports. His first few months in office saw many positive human… Read more »
Anti-government protests in Montenegro, Serbia and Albania prompt talk of ‘Balkan Spring’
It all started with a video posted on social media: a secret recording from 2016 that appears to show a well-known local tycoon hand over an envelope containing bundles of cash… Read more »
Algeria’s transition scenarios: ‘dreams of democracy tempered by fear of Islamism’?
President Bouteflika’s resignation has left Algeria facing a period of uncertainty replete with hope and fear, The (London) Times reports. The hope is that, at long last, this oil and gas-rich… Read more »
How did Armenia pull off a democratic revolution?
For Armenia, a Russian ally, a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and once regarded as increasingly autocratic, the 2018 Velvet Revolution was a remarkable achievement, writes Eurasia Democratic Security Network… Read more »
To defend liberal order, Western democracy must compete with alternative models
We are witnessing an intellectual transition to a worldview that is in equal parts “naïve, dangerous and ahistorical,” scholars Hal Brands and Charles Edel argue in a “brilliant” new book,… Read more »
‘Between hope and fear’? Ethiopia’s democratic breakthrough
One year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, Ethiopia continues to be the world’s most exciting democratic breakthrough. Since his appointment, Prime Minister Abiy has initiated a… Read more »
Arab Spring: the sequel?
The mantra of the Arab Spring is back. Protesters in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories [and Sudan] have demanded better governance of late, prompting talk of… Read more »
Emerging Algerian opposition, civil society seek democratic reform
An emerging Algerian opposition group representing a mass protest movement has demanded the embattled president leave office in fewer than six weeks, Borzou Daragahi reports for the Independent: But… Read more »
Ethiopia: reform needs assistance to overcome ‘stiff resistance’
After more than two years of protests, power changed hands in Ethiopia last April. Under the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is shedding its reputation as a country that… Read more »