‘Potemkin politics’: Putin’s Ukraine narrative rings hollow
In his speech to the Russian nation on Monday, President Vladimir V. Putin buoyed his case for codifying the cleavage of two rebel territories from Ukraine by arguing that the… Read more »
Category: Central/Eastern Europe
Mapping CEE’s ‘civic deserts’
What are ‘civic deserts’ and what challenges are civic actors in Central and Eastern Europe facing? What is civic cohesion and what can be done to foster it? Sofia… Read more »
‘Grand strategy of democratic solidarity’ can defend international order
In the face of an autocratic resurgence, a “grand strategy of democratic solidarity may show the way” to maintaining core elements of the liberal international order, the Munich Security Conference… Read more »
Lithuania tests democracies’ resolve on China’s coercive diplomacy
Three decades after gaining its independence from the USSR, Lithuania is again on the front lines of tension between the liberal democratic world and communist authoritarianism. This time, it’s grappling… Read more »
‘Disheveled’ democracy vs ruthless autocracy: Ukraine fighting to survive
On the eve of what could be a Russian invasion, Ukrainians appear united against the threat from Moscow — but also battling among themselves for political advantage in Kyiv. The… Read more »
Belarus to Ukraine: Democratic awakening ‘can’t be put back in the bottle’
The experience of Afghanistan over the past 20 years illustrates the problems and contradictions inherent in the democracy-promotion agenda, The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index asserts. The issue of… Read more »
‘A democracy in action’: Ukraine’s new civic identity
While the world’s eyes are on the diplomatic surge trying to head off a Russian invasion of Ukraine, WBUR reports, for Ukrainians themselves, there’s also something else — the feeling… Read more »
Countering susceptibility to foreign malign influence
Supporting independent quality media and civil society while developing funding schemes beyond geographical areas, are just two of the ways in which democratic actors can reduce the impact of foreign… Read more »
Ukraine: ‘Thwart Kremlin aggression today for constructive relations tomorrow’
Most, if not all, policymakers in the democratic West have learned that not sufficiently countering Russian revanchism taught Vladimir Putin that he could get away with more aggression, say the… Read more »
It’s the ideology, stupid: Ukraine’s cause ‘no less vital than Prague Spring’
For civil society, the cause of Ukraine should be no less vital than the defense of the Prague Spring of 1968 against Soviet invasion, observers suggest. Putin must attack Ukraine… Read more »