Category: Authoritarianism

Russians ambivalent on democracy, civil liberties?

     

  Russians are more concerned about economic and political stability than democracy, according to a new poll conducted by the Levada Center: The poll asked 1,600 Russian respondents to rank issues they viewed… Read more »

Rights groups call for restraint in wake of Morocco protests

     

  Morocco should refrain from violence against teacher-trainee protesters and investigate an incident during which Moroccan police attacked and beat peaceful teacher-trainee protesters earlier this month, causing dozens of injuries,… Read more »

Azeri protests highlight political risks of oil price fall

     

Azerbaijan is to impose a 20 per cent tax on taking money out of the country, as the oil-dependent government scrambles to respond to a currency collapse that has triggered… Read more »

‘Iranian Spring’ or hard-liners consolidating power?

     

  Two Iranian poets who face lashings and prison sentences have fled Iran in a rare escape for local artists and activists ensnared in an ongoing crackdown on expression in… Read more »

The revenge of history: authoritarian narratives

     

Some 25 years after the Cold War, passions grounded in history are increasingly an essential feature of international relations, and dangerously so, argues Bruno Tertrais, a Senior Research Fellow at… Read more »

Democracy’s continuing struggles

     

  After the end of the Cold War, experts who closely studied trends in democratization believed that democracy was destined to sweep the globe. But predictions of democratic triumph did… Read more »

Civil resistance in the Arab Spring: what went wrong?

     

The overriding lesson of the abortive Arab Spring is that getting rid of a dictatorial and corrupt ruler is not enough. Building democratic institutions, and restoring confidence in a flawed… Read more »

Tunisia’s democratic experiment ‘still up for grabs’?

     

Thousands gathered in Tunisia’s capital Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the uprising that inspired the Arab Spring. Tunisians thronged Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main thoroughfare in central Tunis… Read more »

As Pink Tide recedes, U.S. should support Latin American democracy

     

 With Latin American voters turning away from their populist leaders, many speculate that the “pink tide” that has pushed the region to the left over the last 15 years is now… Read more »