Category: Analysis

Kremlin joins China’s sharp power bandwagon

     

The coronavirus pandemic confirms that China’s authoritarian state capitalism with its hegemonic ambitions is by far the most difficult strategic challenge the West has ever faced, according to one observer…. Read more »

China’s ‘misplaced pandemic propaganda’ machine let loose on coronavirus

     

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates, China has shifted its propaganda machine into high gear, in an effort to change the narrative about the virus’s origins and the Chinese response. But… Read more »

Pro-democracy actors’ powerful message at a time of moral crisis

     

The picture for democracy and civil society was mixed across the European Neighbourhood in 2019, according to Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). Some of… Read more »

Surveillance or solidarity? Democracies respond to Covid-19

     

Pandemics are democratizing experiences and can also catalyze social change. The Atlantic’s Ed Yong writes: People, businesses, and institutions have been remarkably quick to adopt or call for practices that… Read more »

Russia under Putin: 20 years of protests

     

Calling for “discipline and responsibility” in the face of the coronavirus, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Wednesday announced the postponement of a referendum next month on whether he… Read more »

Covid-19’s latest victim: Hungary’s democracy

     

Covid-19 is about to claim a new victim: Hungary’s democracy, argues Dalibor Rohac, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The country’s parliament is set to adopt a new law… Read more »

Safeguarding democracy from disinformation: China takes page from Russia’s playbook

     

China is taking a page from Russia’s disinformation playbook, observers suggest. The Chinese Communist Party has spent the past week publicly pushing conspiracy theories intended to cast doubt on the origins… Read more »

Geopolitical consequences: Will coronavirus enhance authoritarian appeal?

     

The coronavirus pandemic gripping the globe may have its origins in China, but experts say that current trends indicate the crisis will leave it in a much stronger position geopolitically… Read more »

From cover-up to global donor: China’s Covid-19 sharp power play

     

China is sending doctors and medical supplies to Italy and other countries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. WSJ’s Eric Sylvers in Milan explains how China is using… Read more »