Populists in Power: a glimmer of hope?
The historical record since 1945 gives us a picture of how populists operate once they hold political power. The record shows that populism is inimical to liberal democracy, and not… Read more »
Category: National Endowment for Democracy
Western Balkans: how to build democratic resilience?
Twenty years after the wars in the Western Balkans ended, internal and external authoritarian tendencies threaten democracy in this troubled region. While technically free, elections are hardly fair. Internally, they are… Read more »
China’s New Silk Road – in the Americas?
Perhaps no issue this century in the Americas has been as significant as China’s rise, from a limited presence to becoming the top trade partner of much of South America… Read more »
Authoritarian challenge is the ‘defining question of our time’?
Democracy’s global travails continue to mount, notes a leading observer. What looked as recently as a decade ago to be real democratic progress in countries as diverse as Brazil, Hungary, South Africa, and Turkey has… Read more »
‘Dangerous backsliding’: radicals use Indonesia’s democracy to undermine it
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and former military general Prabowo Subianto will face off in a presidential election on Wednesday (Nikkei/CFR), with official results expected take up to a month to… Read more »
Illiberal democracy’s ‘existential threat’ to values and institutions
There is no democracy without liberty, and “illiberal democracy” poses an existential threat to European values and institutions, according to a new analysis. Popular discontent is fueled by a pervasive… Read more »
30 years after Tiananmen massacre, Taiwan shows another way for China
America’s most potent weapon in its emerging contest for supremacy with China is not its economy, nor its aircraft carriers, but its ideas, says a prominent analyst. The notion that abstract… Read more »
Explaining advanced democracies’ ‘exceptional resilience’
The emergence of authoritarian capitalism and illiberal populism is raising fresh questions about the relationship between democracy, predicated on political equality, and the market, a driver of socio-economic inequality. But… Read more »
‘Hacked World Order’: digital authoritarianism’s ‘profound threat’
In the hands of competent and exploitative forces such as the People’s Republic of China or Facebook, the long march toward enslavement by technology continues apace. …As Richard Fontaine and… Read more »
Ethiopia’s transition: ‘change at the top is not enough’
It has been a whirlwind year for Ethiopia since Abiy Ahmed became prime minister, say analysts Ahmed Soliman and Abel Abate Demissie. He has initiated a raft of reforms to… Read more »