Why are democracies funding autocracies?
Autocracies consume an increasing proportion of official development assistance (ODA) flows, from 64% in 2010 to 79% in 2019, according to a recent OECD analysis. There are two reasons… Read more »
Search Results for: democracy support
Ukraine: Putin’s distortions about past feed delusions about future
President Vladimir V. Putin’s decision this week to expand the size of his military offered further evidence for a conviction taking hold in both Russia and Ukraine: The two sides are… Read more »
Opposition strategies for resisting backsliding
Public comments this week from two of Latin America’s most prominent left-wing politicians suggest changes are afoot in how they plan to approach the Venezuelan government’s democratic backsliding—the core issue… Read more »
‘The Eclipse’ probes Serbian family’s dark memories of Balkans wars
The documentary Eclipse won the award for best film in the main competition of the MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival, held in Skopje, Macedonia, from 18 to 25 August 2022…. Read more »
A living legacy: Michael ‘Mike’ Samuels, R.I.P.
Michael Anthony Samuels, a two-time U.S. Ambassador and pillar of the African policy and trade policy communities, passed away unexpectedly but peacefully the evening of August 8, 2022, of… Read more »
Explaining authoritarian endurance, countering the disinformation playbook
Why do dictatorships emerging from social revolutions endure, even in the face of economic crisis, policy failure, mass discontent, and external pressure? In Revolution and Dictatorship, Steven Levitsky and Lucan… Read more »
Ukraine: 6 months of resistance, resilience, and resolve
The killing of the daughter of philosopher Alexander Dugin — a man often referred to as “Putin’s brain” because of his reported influence over the Russian leader — in a… Read more »
Democratic backsliding puts human rights in the crosshairs?
As democratic backsliding has spread across the globe, human rights are increasingly seen as “losing” or having “failed,” notes James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. In recent… Read more »
Brazil’s Lula calls for democratic ‘alternation of power’ in Venezuela
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he supports free elections and the alternation of power in Venezuela, a shift from his party’s long-standing support for the government… Read more »
Weaponize transparency to defeat autocracy
Democracies have a significant advantage in weaponizing transparency at scale to highlight autocratic activities that break international norms or inflict damage on local economies and populations, argue Garrett Berntsen, the Deputy Chief… Read more »