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: 1989
Russia’s new generation warfare ‘made a mockery of West’s soft power
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is furious at a decision to let Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin mouthpiece launch a blistering attack on Britain from inside the House of Commons, Russian spin doctor… Read more »
Veteran Polish dissident braced for fresh battle
After years in jail as a dissident under communism, Adam Michnik took part in the groundbreaking 1989 Round Table talks that brought semi-free elections to Poland and helped bring down… Read more »
Canada’s new FM a critic of Russia’s ‘authoritarian kleptocracy’
Canada has named Chrystia Freeland, a prominent critic of Russia who was banned by Moscow in 2014, as its new minister of foreign affairs, The Guardian reports: In 2014,… Read more »
Populism: democratic part of liberal democracy ‘taking revenge’ on liberal part
British Prime Minister Theresa May today blamed complacent mainstream politicians, unscrupulous business people, social media and globalization for a breakdown in 21st century society and the rise of populist parties,… Read more »
Iran’s ‘mythical moderate’: Rafsanjani blended economic liberalism, political authoritarianism
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (above, left) , who has died aged 82, was one of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran; a shrewd politician who many Iranians saw as… Read more »
Unraveling Cuba’s Gordian Knot
In the wake of Fidel Castro’s death, it may be helpful to examine the empirical evidence of the transition experience of the Central and Eastern European countries when the Soviet… Read more »
Taking liberal democracy for granted?
Acceptance of liberty as the foundation of legitimate government, and of an international system built on liberal ideas — is under greater threat than at any point since the fall… Read more »
How populism can strengthen democracy, not imperil it
Populism has long been a contested and ambiguous concept, notes Michael Kazin, who teaches history at Georgetown University: Scholars debate whether it is a creed, a style, a political strategy,… Read more »
Beyond Dysfunction and Devastation: Iraq, the Arab Spring, and Lessons for Today
Kanan Makiya* has been described as the Arab world’s “Solzhenitsyn” for courageously bearing witness to unspeakable cruelty, notes the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His new critically acclaimed novel, The Rope, is… Read more »