Is Russia’s ‘new civic activism’ testing Putin’s grip on power?
More people in Russia view the late Brezhnev era of the Soviet Union as “close to the people” than they do President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, according to a survey… Read more »
Search Results for: rule of law
Ungovernability at root of the crisis of democracy?
The problems of governance “stem from an excess of democracy,” according to the Trilateral Commission’s 1975 report, The Crisis of Democracy: On the Governability of Democracies. But recent trends highlight an… Read more »
Constitutional chicanery: how Egypt’s ‘tyrant regime’ was legitimized
This spring, as Egypt’s parliament debated handing President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi greater power and allowing him to govern until 2030, speaker Ali Abdelaal declared the proposals were the will of… Read more »
Do women human rights defenders hold the key to a democratic Sudan?
Since the successful removal of former president Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s struggle for civilian rule has the world holding its breath, writes Julie Snyder, an adjunct fellow with the Human Rights… Read more »
Hong Kong protests: Prospect of Chinese army intervention rattles nerves
The idea of Chinese tanks rolling into Hong Kong would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. But as the Asian financial centre enters its third month of protests… Read more »
Will the EU be a player or a playground? Solidarity of democratic West ‘matters as much as ever’
Today, the cohesion of the West matters as much as ever in the face of a newly assertive Russia and China, argues David Reynolds, professor of international history at the… Read more »
How China’s ‘malign influence’ is corroding democracies
The primaries for Taiwan’s forthcoming presidential election are highlighting fears over China’s political influence. Pro-Beijing media are being credited with populist Han Kuo-Yu’s victory to lead the opposition, The Financial… Read more »
‘Backlash to the backlash’: tide turning against populism?
The newly-elected prime minister of the center-right New Democracy party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, promises a return to normality for the middle class after 4.5 years with the populist Syriza party… Read more »
Strengthening resilience to online disinformation
Russia’s return to the global stage as a major power relies on an array of diplomatic, information, security, and economic tools that help the Kremlin punch above its weight, notes… Read more »
Post-Erdoganism? Istanbul election shows resilience of Turkey’s democracy
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is grappling with the fallout of the ruling party’s big defeat in the Istanbul mayoral election, and his government faces pressure to release political prisoners,… Read more »