The war in Ukraine is generating the dissolution of Russia’s ‘social contract’ under which the regime promised security and stability in exchange for political docility, observers suggest. Putin’s mobilization has… Read more »
Democracies must shift from a defensive posture in the face of autocratic resurgence and democratic decline, and seize the opportunity to reverse these trends at a potential “inflection point remembered… Read more »
Even as some leaders exploit the COVID-19 pandemic, their inability to deal with popular suffering will act against the myth that they and their regimes are impregnable, the Economist observes…. Read more »
America used to try to design the world, Russia used to try to sabotage those plans. Now things almost look the other way around, analyst Asli Aydintasbas observes. The decline… Read more »
In recent years, China has spent a small fortune trying to influence the world through “soft power” — relying on language, cuisine and culture, rather than the conventional hard tools of aircraft… Read more »
Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists as part of a worldwide propaganda campaign of astonishing scope and ambition, say Louisa Lim and Julia Bergin. China’s rapid… Read more »
“[W]hat, in practice, can the idea of democracy possibly mean?” political scientist James Miller asks in Can Democracy Work? A Short History of a Radical Idea, From Ancient Athens to Our World. Miller begins… Read more »
Former President Obama will “echo his call to reject the rising strain of authoritarian politics and policies” when he accepts an award for ethics in government next week, The Hill… Read more »
Allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election are false and “make a mockery” out of American democracy, Moscow’s top diplomat has claimed, Newsweek reports. “[S]urely nobody seriously believes that… Read more »
The Turkish election results confirm that security and a thriving economy, despite some recent weakness, trump most traditional democratic values, as many nations begin to shrug off their longstanding democratic exteriors,… Read more »