When Russia glimpsed freedom – for a moment
In the years since the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, Russians experienced the longest period of freedom in their thousand-year history — and then lost it, notes David E. Hoffman,… Read more »
Category: Democratic Transitions
Tunisia: From Political Islam to Muslim Democracy?
The European Union today approved a 500 million euro ($570 million) loan to help Tunisia address economic challenges and bolster its democratic processes, Reuters reports: Tunisia’s transition to democracy has… Read more »
‘Time is running out’ for Tunisia
The United States and Europe must engage in a joint transatlantic approach to support Tunisia’s democratization, says a new report. They should work to avoid duplication of assistance efforts… Read more »
A new breed of Cuban dissident
For most of his career as a Cuban dissident leader, through his 2003 arrest and seven years as a political prisoner, José Daniel Ferrer was repeatedly pressed by the Cuban government… Read more »
Suu Kyi to lead effort on Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi will lead a new effort to bring peace and development to Rakhine State where violence between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims in recent years has… Read more »
Muslim Democrats? How to explain shift in Tunisia’s Ennahda
In a move widely reported as a landmark separation of mosque and state, Ennahda announced it was separating politics from preaching, notes Oxford University researcher Monica Marks. It also unveiled… Read more »
Tunisia’s Ennahda ditches political Islam
In the days after the fall of the regime of Tunisia‘s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, the long-exiled founder of the Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi (left) made a… Read more »
A Strategy for Democratic Renewal
Democracy is being challenged today as never before since the end of Cold War, notes Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy. Freedom House has recorded ten consecutive… Read more »
Politics precedes victory in Libya?
Eliminating the Islamic State’s (IS) presence in Libya is just one of many goals that Libyans share with the international community and which could be the building block for a… Read more »
Europe’s liberal power ‘a two-way street’?
The West is losing credibility in furthering democracy around the world because of mounting dysfunctionalities in its own political systems, notes Carnegie analyst Richard Youngs. Now in question are two… Read more »