Malaysia’s ‘democratic disruption’ – and why it matters
Malaysia is somewhat of a puzzle, notes Marvin C. Ott, senior scholar at the Wilson Center and visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. The Federation, as it is also… Read more »
Reform and renewal: democracy staging a comeback?
By almost any measure, 2018 has been a disastrous year for democracy, notes analyst Frida Ghitis. Authoritarian leaders have made decisive moves to tighten their grip on power by eroding practices indispensable… Read more »
Do ‘identity politics’ really threaten democracy?
Around the world, democracy is threatened by the emergence of authoritarian, illiberal and nationalist leaders who are suppressing independent media and civil society. Identity politics are partly to blame, Stanford’s… Read more »
China’s pre-Christmas crackdown raises alarm
A recent surge of police action against churches in China has raised concerns the government is getting even tougher on unsanctioned Christian activity, the BBC reports: Among those arrested are… Read more »
Nicaragua: government crackdown targets civil society
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is urging the government of Nicaragua to stop intimidation and harassment against civil society and the media, according to reports. The High Commissioner’s request… Read more »
Weaponizing technology: Russia is ‘winning disinformation war’
Russia’s disinformation campaign around the 2016 election used every major social media platform, according to reports obtained by The Washington Post before its official release Monday: The report is the… Read more »
Clash of ideas key in political warfare against neo-authoritarians
Both Russia and China are governed by opaque, highly centralized and increasingly personalized governments. Political warfare, for such regimes, is second nature, according to Hal Brands, the Henry A. Kissinger… Read more »
‘Backward-looking critiques’ neglect neo-authoritarian threat
The titles of Stephen Walt’s The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy and John Mearsheimer’s The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities give… Read more »
Disinformation’s ‘acute and strategic challenge for democratic systems’
With European Union elections closing in, EU leaders are calling for measures to tackle the deliberate spread of disinformation, Associated Press reports. “The spread of deliberate, large-scale, and systematic… Read more »
Bangladesh: crackdown as elections loom
Bangladesh security forces have been arresting and intimidating opposition figures and threatening freedom of expression in advance of national elections on December 30, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today: The… Read more »