Search Results for: Civil Society

What comes after ISIS? ‘There is nothing, no plan.’

     

The announcement of the so-called caliphate was a high point for the extremist fighters of the Islamic State. Their exhibitionist violence and apocalyptic ideology helped them seize vast stretches of… Read more »

False Dawn? How (not) to advance Middle East democracy

     

Supporting indigenous democrats would be a more successful approach to promoting democracy in the Middle East than external intervention, especially militarized regime change, says a leading Arab democrat. “Foreign intervention… Read more »

‘Faking concern about fake news’: engaging Russia will ’empower Putin’

     

Should the West collaborate with Russia on cybersecurity issues, despite the Kremlin’s information warfare conducted against the liberal democracies? “To forgive and forget when it comes to Putin, regarding cyberattacks,… Read more »

Leap of faith? Uganda’s coming transition

     

Since obtaining political independence from Britain in October 1962, Uganda has never experienced a peaceful transfer of power from one president to another. Military coups and violent takeovers have been… Read more »

Time to prepare for Iran’s political collapse?

     

In a region littered with failed states, Iran is often mischaracterized as an island of stability, notes Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The history… Read more »

Is Indonesia’s ‘pious democracy’ safe from Islamist extremism?

     

  Indonesia remains a model of moderate Islam, the country’s president said on Monday, countering critics who point to mass rallies by radical Muslims and the jailing of a Christian… Read more »

Angola’s kleptocracy resisting greater scrutiny

     

Angola’s reconstruction and oil boom presented the politically connected — those with “relatives in the kitchen,” as Angolans say — with a golden opportunity for self-enrichment. In an economy driven… Read more »

Democracy in crisis: innovative strategies for turning the tide

     

After the hope engendered by the Third Wave, democracies around the world are beleaguered with threats from multiple sources, according to a new book, described as “a healthy and constructive… Read more »

Zimbabwe in Transition: Reform and Reconstruction

     

> A 2015 Contingency Planning Memorandum, “Political Instability in Zimbabwe,” highlighted the potential for violence in connection with leadership succession. And there are at least five areas of concern as… Read more »

Western Balkans double standard and malign foreign influence spur extremism

     

There’s a double standard in the Western Balkans, according to analysts Jelena Beslin and Marija Ignjatijevic. Governments in the region generally equate violent extremism with Islamist radicalization and local youths… Read more »