China – from dividend to disaster in a single generation
China is now peaking in its power and is soon to decline, and that makes it especially dangerous, according to Tufts associate professor Michael Beckley, co-author of a new book,… Read more »
Explaining Ukraine’s resilience
Russian President Vladimir Putin “realizes he’s made a mistake” by ordering the invasion of Ukraine, said NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis, which explains why he has been pushing… Read more »
Xi Jinping’s ‘Guns of August’ threaten Taiwan?
Increasingly, it appears that China’s president is turning to nationalism as a substitute for economic growth as a source of political legitimacy, says Council on Foreign Relations chief Richard Haass…. Read more »
Bipartisan initiative to advance ’21st Century Democracy’
The U.S. Congress is to consider bipartisan legislation to boost funding and modernize methods used to defend democracy abroad, reports suggest. The initiative will establish new authorities and provide additional… Read more »
Ukraine: Democratic realism vs Putin appeasers
Some 98% of Ukrainians believe their country will definitely or likely win the war against Russia, according to the latest public opinion survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI). East Ukraine… Read more »
Will Ukraine war return illiberal Poland to EU’s democratic fold?
Poland’s illiberal government may be forced by events, including those unleashed by Russia’s war, to inch closer to the European democratic mainstream, according to Kultura Liberalna’s Jaroslaw Kuisz and Karolina… Read more »
Nicaragua’s model dystopia: ‘Not even Orwell could have dreamed up a country like this’
The newly-elected President of Colombia, leftist Gustavo Petro, has criticized the political violence perpetrated by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. In Nicaragua there is an authoritarian drift… Read more »
How Ukraine war turned Russia into China’s ‘new vassal’
Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s attempts to garner support for his country among other nations amid his widely condemned war in Ukraine demonstrates that Russia is in a “weak position,” according… Read more »
A year on, Afghans are paying the price of Taliban takeover
One year ago, the fall of Kabul to the Taliban stunned the world, The Washington Post reports. Afghans fled to the airport in droves. A suicide bombing killed nearly 200… Read more »
Civil society – Ukraine’s other army
Russian strategy toward Ukraine is designed to demoralize and demotivate, notes Anne Applebaum. But it encounters a potent countervailing force in the form of activists and volonteri in groups like… Read more »