Category: Authoritarianism

Will Covid-19 prompt breakdown of democratic regimes?

     

Halfhearted reform in response to the COVID-19 crisis will simply renew the invitation to populists to take up arms against liberal democracy, a leading analyst suggests. A cautionary tale lies… Read more »

Coronavirus: Stress test or silver lining for democracy?

     

Whereas democracies operate on consensus, autocrats react with sweeping measures threatening the rule of law. Who is better prepared for the COVID-19 crisis? Deutsche Welle asks: Austrian democracy researcher Tamara… Read more »

‘Existential crisis’? Russia’s coronavirus paradox

     

Vladimir Putin’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has produced a paradox: instead of using the pandemic to further strengthen his personalized power, Russia’s president has refused to take tough measures,… Read more »

Democracy during pandemic – a help or hindrance?

     

The coronavirus has given rise to a flood of conspiracy theories, disinformation and propaganda, eroding public trust and undermining health officials in ways that could elongate and even outlast the… Read more »

‘Weaponizing insecurity’: Covid-19 tests legitimacy of all modes of governance

     

Autocratic and illiberal leaders are using the coronavirus crisis to weaponize insecurity, says journalist and historian Anne Applebaum. She talks to Financial Times’ columnist Gideon Rachman  about the threat to… Read more »

COVID-19 ‘infodemic’: West in disarray over autocrats’ ‘battle of narratives’

     

The West has largely been in disarray in responding to autocratic disinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting calls for the U.S. to launch a “multilateral” initiative with like-minded democracies to… Read more »

COVID-19 reveals realities of geopolitical competition

     

The COVID-19 crisis reveals that the world is a competitive arena in which great power rivals like China seek advantage, that the state remains the irreplaceable agent of international power… Read more »

COVIS-19: Democracies must offer alternative to authoritarian solutions

     

The wider geopolitical effect of the COVIS-19 pandemic will likely turbocharge trendlines that were already creating a much more complicated and competitive landscape for the United States, argues William J. Burns,… Read more »

China’s ‘garbage propaganda’ on Covid-19 giving it strategic advantage?

     

A U.S. senator has accused China of “garbage propaganda” about the coronavirus pandemicc. The European Union says claims that it is “disintegrating in the face of COVID-19 are trending on… Read more »

Democracy in the age of COVID-19: Regression, resilience or ‘radical uncertainty’?

     

  As the coronavirus pandemic grips the world, leaders are enacting special powers in this time of crisis. Augusta University political science professor Craig Albert discusses the long-lasting impact on… Read more »