Political violence in Putin’s Russia
The February 2015 assassination of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was only the latest and most dramatic example of the political violence that has been central to the Putin… Read more »
U.S. nominates Cuba envoy, regime ramps up repression
Cuba’s press, emboldened by President Raúl Castro’s call for reforms in 2010, are finding more space for critical comment, but harassment and intimidation from authorities, a legal limbo caused by… Read more »
The new dictators: why personalism rules
The propensity of personalist dictatorships to dismantle institutions and sideline competent individuals out of fear of threats to their power bodes poorly for democracy, according to analysts Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica… Read more »
Venezuela opposition calls Oct 12 protest for Maduro recall
Venezuela‘s opposition called on Monday for mass rallies nationwide on Oct. 12 to push for a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro this year as they seek to oust his… Read more »
Putin’s Master Plan: Russian autocracy ‘will always threaten Ukraine’
Vladimir Putin is “a calculating master of geopolitics with a master plan to divide Europe, destroy NATO, re-establish Russian influence in the world, and most of all, marginalize the United… Read more »
Iran’s likely next supreme leader a hardline ideologue
The candidate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards are grooming to ascend to the post of supreme leader is one of the most reactionary members of Iran’s… Read more »
Jordan election: the same old song?
Jordan’s parliamentary elections on September 20 have produced a parliament that will contain opposition figures for the first time in a decade, analysts Michele Dunne and Marwan Muasher write for… Read more »
Succession planning flurry follows Eurasian autocrat’s death
The recent death of Uzbekistan’s seemingly perpetual president has drawn fresh attention to the uncertainties of one-man rule elsewhere in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, writes Freedom House… Read more »
Legacies of Totalitarianism – all too evident in CEE
Ironically, it was not the end of communism, but the disintegration of post-communism, that has ushered in a time of deeply unsettling global uncertainty, notes Stephen E. Hanson, director of… Read more »
Rule of law, anti-corruption tested in Central America’s Northern Triangle
There are indications that Honduras may finally have the momentum and firepower to deal with its corruption problems, say analysts Ana Suazo and Henry Sullivan Atkins. The Indignados movement provided… Read more »