Quiet consensus against Palestinian elections
It’s rare these days to find anything that Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. and Israel agree on. And yet when it comes to elections there is a choosing their… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
‘Liberal civic nationalism’ triumphs in Taiwan poll
“Our democratic system, national identity and international space must be respected,” Tsai Ing-wen [left] said on Jan. 16 in her first remarks as president-elect in Taiwan. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive… Read more »
Latin America: no sympathy for Venezuela’s Chavistas
When Venezuela’s head of state arrived in Quito, Ecuador, last week for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit, his pitch was almost unrecognizable. Gone were the encomiums… Read more »
Cuban failure: France honors Castro as dissidents beaten
Human rights activists and democracy advocates have criticized French president Francois Hollande for receiving Cuban leader Raul Castro – with full honors – as nearly 200 peaceful dissidents were being… Read more »
Challenging Moldova’s pro-Western facade
An unknown assailant threw a grenade at the house of the governor of Moldova’s central bank overnight, RFE/RL reports: Bank chief Dorin Dragutanu and his family were asleep when the… Read more »
Killing of Balochistan leader a setback for peace prospects
The killing of a pro-independence Balochistan leader, Dr. Manan, on Saturday by the Pakistani security forces in Mastung is a great setback for establishing peace in a volatile region, says… Read more »
Russian nostalgia for Soviet era on the rise
Most Russians regard the loss of the USSR as a negative event, according to a poll conducted this month by the independent Levada Center. Some 63 percent see the collapse… Read more »
Egypt’s transition wasn’t doomed to fail
The fifth anniversary of Egypt‘s 2011 uprising has produced an oddly structuralist set of reflections in which the failure of its democratic transition has taken on an almost foreordained quality, notes… Read more »
‘Mainland-ization’ undermining Hong Kong’s democracy
Hong Kong lagged behind its neighbors such as Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines in terms of rights and freedoms enjoyed by individuals, an annual study by a US-based research… Read more »
Elections highlight ‘Struggle for the Soul of Iran’
Iran has excluded Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic and a cleric with ties to reformist politicians, from contesting elections to the country’s powerful Assembly of… Read more »