Category: dissent

Call to free Iran’s women political prisoners: Virus ‘exacerbates regime’s legitimacy crisis’

     

The coronavirus is leading Iranians to question the relationship between state and religion, putting the theocratic state in “an unusual and awkward position“, observers suggest. The Islamic Republic had to… Read more »

How the coronavirus ‘exposes lie at the heart of Communist China’

     

As the world tries to contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, it needs to heed the message coming from Chinese democrats, which is that we all have a stake… Read more »

China’s ‘biological Chernobyl’ exposes absurdities of autocracy

     

The death of Li Wenliang has shaken China like an earthquake. He was a young doctor who was reprimanded by Chinese police for alerting colleagues to a new virus that has… Read more »

Putin’s ‘backhanded tribute to democracy’: A global template for new authoritarians?

     

Russian President Vladimir Putin named a new prime minister, who was confirmed (Reuters) one day after his predecessor resigned along with Russia’s entire cabinet. Putin also proposed changes (FT) in… Read more »

Iran’s ‘Chernobyl’ moment? U.S. pursuing strategy of ‘regime disruption’

     

There have been fresh protests in Tehran more than three days after the Iranian authorities admitted they accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner on January 8, killing 176 people, RFE/RL’s… Read more »

Cuba’s police state exposed: ‘an important blow to the regime’

     

A former high-ranking judge in Cuba has joined an anti-government activist in revealing information from secret government documents that show the government is holding thousands of inmates on dubious charges… Read more »

Pervasive protests affirm civic activism, but carry serious risks

     

People all over the world are resorting to mass demonstrations to express grievances and press unmet demands, notes Aryeh Neier, President Emeritus of the Open Society Foundations and a founder… Read more »

Russia’s New Ideocracy vs. liberal democracy

     

  “Putinism” has long been a hot topic in the West, where the term – describing the policies and practices of Russian President Vladimir Putin – is generally met with… Read more »

Time to recognize the ‘new faces of Iranian protest’

     

  The Islamic Republic of Iran has come under fierce criticism amid reports that the judiciary amputated a man’s fingers for theft in the latest in a series of incidents… Read more »

Beijing’s assertiveness betrays its desperation: CCP ‘might collapse’?

     

China’s ruling Communist Party is holding a key meeting this week amid a drastically slowing economy, ongoing protests in Hong Kong and pushback abroad against Beijing’s global ambitions, AP reports;… Read more »