How Covid-19 may ’embed’ the new authoritarianism
The Covid-19 pandemic has been talked of as a historical rupture, igniting system change. Yet, the nature of the new world being born is still far from certain, and this… Read more »
Category: Analysis
Don’t underestimate resilience of the smart new despotisms
The new despotism defies the standard distinction between democracy and authoritarianism, argues John Keane (above), Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and WZB (Berlin). The “whip-smart resilience” of… Read more »
Time to confront China’s global influence: Post-COVID prospects for Beijing’s sharp power
The news on Friday morning that Australia is currently being hit by a major cyber attack targeting all levels of government, political parties and businesses has focussed attention on national… Read more »
Reframe ‘information warfare’ to capitalize on democracies’ advantage
Differing views between democracies and autocracies on the role of information in society create an asymmetric information domain. The current contest for this information space—often framed as “information warfare”—plays to… Read more »
How to counter ‘troubling trends’ of democratic erosion?
Hungary’s restrictions on the financing of civil-society organizations are unlawful, the European Union’s highest court ruled on Thursday, in a resounding rebuke to Prime Minister Viktor Orban over measures that… Read more »
Uighur Human Rights Policy Act addresses ‘stain of the century’
The new Uighur Human Rights Policy Act, which passed the Senate and House unanimously, drew a furious response from Beijing on Thursday during a delicate moment when Secretary of State… Read more »
How Covid-19 will change the world
The governments of Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand & Norway register the highest scores in our new index: they have performed best in managing the #public… Read more »
Civil society sources of Ukraine’s resilience
Ukraine is a front-line state in the struggle between European rule-based order and Russian kleptocratic autocracy. Since the Euromaidan Revolution in 2013–14, Russia has deployed a range of measures –… Read more »
Secondary Infektion: Russia-linked disinformation campaign exposed
A group of Russia-based hackers used sophisticated new techniques to spread disinformation in the U.S. and avoid detection by social media companies for years, according to a new report from an… Read more »
Time to abandon muddled thinking about China’s ‘Mussolini model’
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has criticized China for creating “disinformation” during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it “will cost lives,” Bloomberg reports. “It is troubling that some countries are… Read more »