China’s paradox of power
Western countries must be careful not to create new dependencies on China as they are weaning themselves off Russian energy supplies amid Moscow’s war on Kyiv, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg… Read more »
Qatar’s World Cup ‘sportswashing’ sets an example for autocrats
Qatar is hardly the first state to brandish sportswashing as a form of reputation-laundering, notes Sarath K. Ganji, a Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and a… Read more »
No Limits: ‘Totalitarian’ China’s War with the West
Xi Jinping wants to reshape the world order in a way that would please autocrats. He presents China’s authoritarian model as a plausible alternative to the West, notes Roger McShane,… Read more »
Human rights must ‘be at the core’ of Sudan’s transition
Civil society groups in Sudan have announced that a deal has been agreed with the military on a framework for the political process to take the country forward. The leader… Read more »
Ukraine: The end of the beginning
Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has exposed weaknesses in the Russian state, from rot in the army to the Kremlin’s authoritarian echo chamber. The war has also hastened Russia’s decline…. Read more »
Leadership and narratives boost civic mobilizations
Prodemocracy activists do not usually initiate or lead broad-based movements in authoritarian regimes and the success of such movements can hinge on undermining regime narratives, according to a new analysis… Read more »
Could Iran protests prompt another ‘Arab Spring’?
It’s often forgotten that Iran’s Green protest movement of 2009 was the precursor to the so-called “Arab Spring,” an observer notes. Protest activity and strikes in Iran will likely increase… Read more »
Overreach: Why Putin is losing – on three fronts
Putin is losing the war against Ukraine, against the West – and at home, but the third front — the one raging in Moscow — matters most, writes CEPA analyst… Read more »
Qatar’s World Cup sportswashing is democracies’ own-goal?
The FIFA World Cup from November 20 to December 18, 2022, will be played following years of serious migrant labor and human rights abuses in Qatar, Human Rights Watch said today,… Read more »
Civil society calls on G20 to #StopKleptocrats
As G20 leaders arrive in Bali for the summit, Transparency International has been blocked from displaying a billboard with a simple message: “G20, #StopKleptocrats”. The G20 has largely ignored kleptocracy… Read more »