US-Cuba rapprochement benefits regime, not people
The rapprochement between the United States and Cuba – one of the world’s most authoritarian tourist destinations – will benefit the Cuban people little and its fruits will not reach… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
Sharing worst practice: former Soviet states’ legal tools of repression
The ways in which authoritarian regimes learn from each other and collaborate to develop repressive practices is outlined in Sharing worst practice: How countries and institutions in the former Soviet… Read more »
Tunisia’s Ennahda ditches political Islam
In the days after the fall of the regime of Tunisia‘s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, the long-exiled founder of the Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi (left) made a… Read more »
A Strategy for Democratic Renewal
Democracy is being challenged today as never before since the end of Cold War, notes Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy. Freedom House has recorded ten consecutive… Read more »
Reconciliation, mobilizing civil society key to Ukraine’s future
The European Union and the Ukrainian government have launched the “Association4U/Association for Ukraine and for You” joint project, which aims to support the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The… Read more »
Fact-checking in a post-fact world
Do you care whether all the facts in a newspaper article are true? If so — what could convince you that they are or are not? A friend? A neutral… Read more »
‘Fascistic’? Russia’s foreign policy in the Putin era
The worldview of Russia’s ruling elite can be understood within a “fascist framework” for geopolitics, argues Yale University historian Timothy Snyder, who asserts that fascism is a framework which is… Read more »
Politics precedes victory in Libya?
Eliminating the Islamic State’s (IS) presence in Libya is just one of many goals that Libyans share with the international community and which could be the building block for a… Read more »
Cultural Revolution nightmare still disturbs Chinese democracy dream
The nightmare of the Cultural Revolution continues to disturb the dream of Chinese democracy, The Economist notes: The violence of the Cultural Revolution, and the many officials it claimed… Read more »
Vietnam’s protesters look to Obama’s visit
President Obama is considering broadly expanding weapons sales to Vietnam in a move aimed at strengthening ties with Hanoi and boosting regional defenses against China’s growing clout, according to the Los… Read more »