Tag: Lowy Institute

When democracies hit midlife crisis

     

Democracy in the Philippines turned 34 last week. The nation commemorated the peaceful mass demonstration that ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power, analyst Nicole Curato observes. A group of protesters… Read more »

China launches counteroffensive in the war of ideas

     

For China’s one party-state, the West’s promotion of liberal democracy is part of an ideological struggle led by an adversary that is still vastly superior, a situation that Chinese strategists… Read more »

Runaway inequality is destabilizing democracies, report warns

     

Since the global financial crisis, democratic systems have faced a crisis of public confidence, and open economies have struggled to deliver the broad-based growth of the past, the Lowy Institute… Read more »

Taiwan: The ‘most consequential election of 2020’?

     

The most consequential election of 2020 might not come at the end of the year, when US President Donald Trump seeks a second term in the White House, but much… Read more »

Fostering open societies’ resilience to digital vulnerabilities

     

“They took your data. Then they took control.” The Great Hack, a new Netflix documentary exposes the dark underside of data exploitation through the personal odysseys of protagonists in the… Read more »

China’s secret ‘magic weapon’ for global soft power

     

Xi Jinping is quietly ramping up the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist party in a push for global “soft power”, The FT’s James Kynge writes in a… Read more »

‘Meddle Kingdom’ rising: China and U.S. ‘neck and neck’ in foreign assistance

     

  New research may suggest that Beijing has had a limited return on its investment in promoting its soft power and that pluralist democracies have an advantage in the field…. Read more »

‘Xi Jinping’s Moment’ – Communist Party primacy in all realms of politics and civil society

     

Xi Jinping has emerged as the most decisive, disciplined Chinese leader in a generation, and, given China’s rise in relative strength compared to the West, the most powerful in more… Read more »

The hard edge of China’s soft power exposed

     

  Australia is reviewing its espionage laws and banning foreign political donations over concerns that China is buying influence by using rich businessmen to funnel millions of dollars in donations… Read more »

‘Zealous democrats’? Call to redefine political Islam

     

The definition of ‘political Islam’ should be narrowed to recognize that many Islamic political movements share democratic values, according to a report by an influential committee of British MPs. The… Read more »