Tag: and American Complacency

Revitalize democracy assistance to counter resilient authoritarians

     

The global prospects for democratization and democracy assistance are worse than at any time in several decades due to the culmination of six trends: a , disillusionment with the Western… Read more »

Mao’s long shadow clouds China’s sharp power

     

In recent years, China has spent a small fortune trying to influence the world through “soft power” — relying on language, cuisine and culture, rather than the conventional hard tools of aircraft… Read more »

Defending pro-democracy forces is important to national security – and who we are

     

Without the support of the U.S. government, pro-democracy forces around the world will wither as authoritarianism gains ground, argues Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and… Read more »

At hinge in history, democracies need renewal to survive

     

Every generation is tempted to think that its challenges are unique. History teaches otherwise.  Democracies can die — of that there should be no doubt. But they can also be… Read more »

Democracy vs. kleptocracy

     

Democracy may be facing a crisis, but…. Now is a time “for resolve, not panic,” says Stanford University’s Larry Diamond. In his  latest book, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage,… Read more »

Russia’s soft power set to divide Council of Europe’s democracies

     

The late Russian president Boris Yeltsin once said his country’s entry into the Council of Europe would help create a “new, greater Europe, free from dividing lines” and “united by common… Read more »

Democratic renewal can counter ‘Ill Winds’ of autocracy and complacency

     

Larry Diamond has spent 40 years circumnavigating the globe promoting democracy in Nigeria, Venezuela and some 70 other countries. Yet today he is aghast, notes Gary J. Bass, a professor… Read more »

Democracy demotion? How to restore the freedom agenda

     

The United States stands at a precipice, facing a time when freedom and democracy will be tested. It remains, within the world’s vast web of alliances and organizations, the indispensable… Read more »

Closing civic space – or changing civil society?

     

The trend of closing civic space crystallized at the beginning of this decade. In response, concerned international actors — including various bilateral aid agencies, foreign ministries, private foundations and international… Read more »

‘Global Crisis of Democracy’: a new tide of authoritarianism is gathering

     

Democracy faces a global crisis, according to a leading analyst. Over the past decade, one in six democracies has failed. Today only a bare majority of the world’s larger states… Read more »