Category: Civil Society

Russia’s election countdown: ‘No one untouchable’ on violations?

     

The head of Russia ‘s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that an interdepartmental working group is being set up to quickly react to election violations, the Moscow Times reports:… Read more »

A new breed of Cuban dissident

     

  For most of his career as a Cuban dissident leader, through his 2003 arrest and seven years as a political prisoner, José Daniel Ferrer was repeatedly pressed by the Cuban government… Read more »

How to reverse the extremist tide

     

Something great is afoot in Tunisia. Last weekend, the once-Islamist Ennahda party officially declared that it will separate its religious activities from its political ones, notes Maajid Nawaz, co-founder and chairman… Read more »

O.A.S. rebuke cites threats to Venezuela’s democracy

     

The Organization of American States said Tuesday that it had begun taking steps against Venezuela to defend democracy in the region, a rare rebuke once reserved for countries undergoing crises like coups…. Read more »

Reversing democracy’s retreat? Reasons to be hopeful

     

Democracy is being challenged today as never before since the end of the Cold War, notes Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy. Freedom House has recorded ten consecutive years… Read more »

Suu Kyi to lead effort on Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State

     

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi will lead a new effort to bring peace and development to Rakhine State where violence between majority Buddhists and minority Muslims in recent years has… Read more »

Ukraine’s former leader ‘paid bribes of $2 billion’ – $1.4 million for each day in office

     

  Ukraine’s former president paid bribes worth at least $2 billion (£1.4 billion) during his four years in office – amounting to almost $1.4 million for every day he was… Read more »

Setting a precedent? Habré trial a model for international justice

     

Former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré has been found guilty by a Dakar court of crimes against humanity, rape, and sexual slavery. Habré’s trial marked the first of an ex-leader by… Read more »

China’s future: Xi’s ‘great rejuvenation’ is radical and risky

     

“China is simply not turning out as many had expected and have worked so long and hard to realize — a liberal China,” notes David Shambaugh, a professor of political… Read more »