Category: Civil Society

Democracy during pandemic – a help or hindrance?

     

The coronavirus has given rise to a flood of conspiracy theories, disinformation and propaganda, eroding public trust and undermining health officials in ways that could elongate and even outlast the… Read more »

‘Weaponizing insecurity’: Covid-19 tests legitimacy of all modes of governance

     

Autocratic and illiberal leaders are using the coronavirus crisis to weaponize insecurity, says journalist and historian Anne Applebaum. She talks to Financial Times’ columnist Gideon Rachman  about the threat to… Read more »

COVID-19 ‘infodemic’: West in disarray over autocrats’ ‘battle of narratives’

     

The West has largely been in disarray in responding to autocratic disinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting calls for the U.S. to launch a “multilateral” initiative with like-minded democracies to… Read more »

COVID-19 reveals realities of geopolitical competition

     

The COVID-19 crisis reveals that the world is a competitive arena in which great power rivals like China seek advantage, that the state remains the irreplaceable agent of international power… Read more »

Democracy in the age of COVID-19: Regression, resilience or ‘radical uncertainty’?

     

  As the coronavirus pandemic grips the world, leaders are enacting special powers in this time of crisis. Augusta University political science professor Craig Albert discusses the long-lasting impact on… Read more »

Pandemic populist pandemonium? Dictators using coronavirus to strengthen grip

     

A contagion on the scale of the coronavirus may offer authoritarians a greater opportunity than any event short of war, Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council… Read more »

The global protest wave: Correcting misconceptions

     

The global protest wave is a roiling tide driven by a dauntingly diverse array of factors, including the travails of democracy and autocracy alike, the shortcomings of both market and… Read more »

‘Authoritarian entrepreneurship’: How coronavirus contaminates democracy

     

Open societies “are more likely to find answers (to the #covid19 crisis) more quickly” than authoritarian ones because they encourage “ creativity and cooperation, National Endowment for Democracy (NED) board… Read more »

Transition Framework: A new path to Venezuelan democracy?

     

  The US government unveiled a plan on Tuesday to break Venezuela’s political deadlock, inviting President Nicolás Maduro to cede power to a new transitional government in exchange for sanctions… Read more »