Eclipse of the West’s soft power?
While the resurgent authoritarians of Russia and China are investing in the expansion of soft power, that of the Western democracies is dwindling, analysts suggest. The European Union’s approach to… Read more »
Search Results for: strongmen
Africa’s dictators club silent on Gambia’s democratic ouster
The surprise presidential win of a real estate agent and political novice over Gambia’s leader of 22 years has the country, and many on the continent, celebrating, Lily Kuo writes… Read more »
China’s ‘anxious’ core leader learned lessons from Soviet collapse, Arab Spring
Even in a moment of triumph, China’s president, Xi Jinping, exudes anxiety. Since the Communist Party gave Mr. Xi the exalted title of “core leader” last week, it has built… Read more »
What’s behind the worldwide decline of democracy?
The history of democracy globally is strewn with examples of extremists and demagogues manipulating prejudice, insecurity, and fear in a bid for power, argues Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at… Read more »
Cambodia’s velvet glove frays
Hun Sen (left), Cambodia’s longtime strongman, faces local elections next year and a national contest in 2018. On his recent provincial swing he pressed flesh, announced local infrastructure projects as… Read more »
The new dictators: why personalism rules
The propensity of personalist dictatorships to dismantle institutions and sideline competent individuals out of fear of threats to their power bodes poorly for democracy, according to analysts Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica… Read more »
Hopes for advancing democracy, liberal values confront harsh facts
These are tough days for enthusiasts of the world’s steady march of democracy, David Sanger writes for The New York Times: A wave of nationalism — led by calls to… Read more »
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 »
Durability of democracy’s appeal is ‘biggest known unknown’
The durability of free-market democracy’s global appeal is “the biggest known unknown” about the next generation global economy, says a prominent analyst. Five significant political economy questions stand out, Tuft… Read more »
Dictators don’t stabilize the Middle East
A number of American politicians have suggested that the Arab Spring was a disaster and that the region needs strongmen to stabilize it, but while working on Middle East policy at the… Read more »