In democracies and authoritarian states alike, leaders intent on consolidating power are finding new ways to repress independent journalism, according to a report released today by Freedom House. Antidemocratic leaders… Read more »
China has been running global influence campaigns for years, analysts suggest, noting that pro-China protests ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics were orchestrated by Beijing’s intelligence officials and designed… Read more »
At least a dozen African governments have passed laws that improperly constrain nongovernmental organizations in the last 15 years, while anti-NGO measures are pending in six more, according to… Read more »
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday that China has stepped up efforts to infiltrate and gain influence in the self-ruled and democratic island, and asked national security agencies to… Read more »
Russia is treating Ukraine and its newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, with the same implacable hostility as it did during Petro Poroshenko’s presidency, according to a leading analyst. The Kremlin… Read more »
In his Nobel Peace Prize lecture in 1975, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov listed the names of over 120 political prisoners he knew of at the time. Now the Russian human… Read more »
What is the connection between Algeria, Egypt and Sudan, and do the rising protests worry the region’s autocratic leaders, France24 asks (above). In Algeria and Sudan, the protesters hold strong… Read more »
Kazakhstan’s dictatorship appears to have all of the necessary institutions in place to facilitate a smooth transition after Nursultan Nazarbayev. The regime is set up to benefit from the presence of… Read more »
Russians have been so obsessed with Ukraine for five years to the point of forgetting about their own country’s problems, says analyst Liliya Shevtsova (below, left. HT: Paul Goble) and… Read more »
After months of protests, President Omar al-Bashir has been forced (HT: Foreign Policy) to step down by the military and is reportedly under house arrest. Bashir has ruled Sudan for 30… Read more »