The Sharp Sword stealth drones and the intercontinental ballistic missiles and the truck-borne monuments to the Communist struggle are ready. Flowers have been planted and red lanterns hung along all… Read more »
China has framed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests as a foreign-backed movement that uses “thugs” to threaten the mainland’s sovereignty. The narrative might be working within the great firewall. Outside China? Not so much,… Read more »
Ukraine’s lawmakers approved (HT: CFR/RFE/RL) thirty-five-year-old lawyer and political newcomer Oleksiy Honcharuk as prime minister. Honcharuk said he will begin talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new aid… Read more »
Populists can come in all kinds of ideological flavors, notes Yascha Mounk. What they all have in common is an opposition to the pluralism that is inherent to any functioning… Read more »
Digital technology can be used in the service of liberal or authoritarian societies, strengthening both government accountability and repressive capabilities. It has led to unprecedented access to and exchange of… Read more »
China’s President Xi Jinping and his comrades have been weathering a political storm, with the growing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong adding to pressure on a regime already locked in… Read more »
By abruptly revoking the special, constitutionally protected status of Jammu and Kashmir, India has become the latest major democracy to act against a minority community for short-term political popularity. Carefully maintained… Read more »
Poland’s anti-constitutional breakdown triggers three major questions: what exactly has happened, why it has happened, and what are the prospects of a return to liberal democracy? These answers are formulated… Read more »
Democratic politics is under attack – this time from populist nationalists, authoritarian regimes and new forms of political communication. It was not meant to be like this, according to Rethinking… Read more »
Trust in democratic institutions to resolve conflicts fairly is at odds with the populist notion of democracy as the expression of the unified will of the one true people. Populist… Read more »