Category: Central/Eastern Europe

Populist International: Europe-wide super-group sparks alarm

     

Although it is commonly assumed that democratic backsliding starts with electoral problems, other political elements—such as the infringement of individual rights and the freedom of expression—are at the core of… Read more »

Combating Disinformation: The Case for Stepping Up the Fight Online

     

  Social media firms should establish “specialized Russian-focused teams” staffed with experts in Russian language, culture, and internet practices, according to a new report. “Combating Russian Disinformation: The Case for… Read more »

‘One-man Marshall Plan’: Was Soros wrong to bet on liberal democracy?

     

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, philanthropist George Soros [inspired by Karl Popper’s Open Society] poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the former Soviet-bloc countries to… Read more »

Are elected leaders ‘making the world less democratic’?

     

On the surface, recent shifts in governments show precisely what a functioning democracy is capable of—voters dictate what they want at the ballot box, analysts Lauren Leatherby and Mira Rojanasakul write for… Read more »

Russia fuels rise of illiberal civil society in the former Soviet Union

     

Disinformation is one of several tools in the Kremlin toolbox as Russia plays a leading role in promoting illiberal, anti-Western and socially conservative civil society groups, popular movements and political… Read more »

Strategic Reset for NATO? Check alliance’s anti-democratic members

     

Few NATO summits have captured the attention of this one—but for all the wrong reasons, according to analysts Julianne Smith and Jim Townsend. Any distraction from what will be a substantive NATO agenda… Read more »

‘Factory of Lies’: Russia’s disinformation strategy and tactics

     

Factory of Lies is the name of a new television documentary introducing a number of journalists who have uncovered the hidden processes of the disinformation campaigns coming from Russia,  EU vs Disinfo reports…. Read more »

Orban’s chilling demand: ‘reconstruct European democracy’

     

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has issued a chilling message to EU leaders ahead of today’s crunch European Council summit, saying that European democracy must be ‘reconstructed’ in order to… Read more »