Lest we forget: China’s day of shame at Tiananmen Square
There is reason enough to recall the Tiananmen Square massacre with dismay and a more cautious strategic policy regarding China as the road not taken, says Paul Monk, (above), a… Read more »
Category: Civil Society
Belarus’s oft-maligned civil society rises to Covid challenge
Belarus’s oft-maligned civil society, which most people had written off years ago – after 26 years of persecution and authoritarian rule – has risen to the challenge of confronting the… Read more »
Eastern Europe’s democratic transitions 30 years on: Diverse experience & narratives
The US can still influence democratic standards in Central Europe more effectively than any other external power because it is equipped both with the instruments of soft and hard power… Read more »
Hong Kong: ‘It’s Leninist authoritarianism vs liberal constitutionalism’
Since Beijing’s economic reforms began in 1978, Hong Kong has played a unique role — a place where western businesses could dip their toes in the new Chinese economy and… Read more »
‘Strong Yet Brittle’: Digital authoritarianism less resilient than democracy
Authoritarian governments increasingly adopt technology-centric national strategies and methods of internal governance. They control their societies through digital censorship, propaganda, and surveillance, and use these same tools to manipulate foreign… Read more »
Hope for Eastern Europe’s civil society: Scenarios for the Eastern Partnership
Hundreds of people in Minsk protested against the rule of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the largest opposition demonstration of the year. They denounced the authoritarian rule of Lukashenko, who… Read more »
Pandemic represents ‘high-water mark’ for brittle authoritarian model’s appeal?
It is quite possible that the coronavirus pandemic will represent the high-water mark for the appeal of the authoritarian model and of its two standard-bearers, China and Russia, according to… Read more »
Has Covid consolidated Xi’s rule? China’s three strategic options
There is a growing body of evidence, assembled and interpreted by talented China experts, that the Chinese government is indeed aiming for global power and perhaps global primacy over the… Read more »
Illiberal Hungary ‘mounting an ambitious ideological campaign’?
Budapest’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic has been to suspend parliament and give Prime Minister Viktor Orbán open-ended powers to rule by decree. Will the latest move by the ruling… Read more »
Why did post-Cold War West ‘lose its political balance’?
The global condition of democracy notably weakened over the past month, according to the Atlantic Council’s State of the Order, which examines the most important events impacting the democratic world… Read more »