Category: Civil Society

Russia’s ‘opposition at a distance’ as new civil society emerges?

     

The entire politics desk of one of Russia’s top daily newspapers, Kommersant, quit on Monday in protest over censorship after two veteran reporters were fired. The walkout at the newspaper controlled… Read more »

A new kind of Cold War? Facing up to China’s sharp power strategy

     

A previously unreported meeting is an example of how the Chinese government directly — and often secretly — engages in political activity in Australia, making the nation a laboratory for… Read more »

Civic activism: democracy’s new hope or false dawn?

     

Seventeen Sudanese and international civil society groups* have urged the African Union to take action after militiamen attacked protesters at the sit-in in front of the military headquarters in central… Read more »

Democracy needs new narrative for ‘cultural fight against populism’

     

Powerful global forces are eroding the foundations of the liberal order and empowering illiberal figures like Britain’s pinstriped populist Nigel Farage, The Economist observes: The most powerful of these global… Read more »

Worst assault yet on rule of law means ‘the end of Hong Kong’?

     

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Martin Lee on Thursday, the State Department said, as Hong Kong activists seek to derail a proposed extradition… Read more »

Adversary or enemy? China is ‘unlikely to simply collapse’

     

The Soviet Union and its satellites were an apparatus of state terror, resting on an ideology of class hatred, foisted on nations that wanted no part of either. It was… Read more »

Refreshing democracy: political innovation breeds democratic rejuvenation

     

Germany, like many places in Europe, is badly in need of democratic rejuvenation, says Verena Friederike Hasel, a contributing journalist for Die Zeit, who is currently working on a book… Read more »

A strategy to counter Iran’s growing power

     

Iranian regional advances have opened up a path, both literally and figuratively, for Iran to circumvent U.S. sanctions by interweaving its terror militias deep within the governments and societies of… Read more »

Democracies in ideological competition with China – not clash of civilizations

     

China’s President Xi Jinping is now invoking cultural diversity as a pretext for opposing democracy and asserting Beijing’s sharp power, reports suggest. Xi repeated his rallying cry on Wednesday as he… Read more »

Global democracy ‘at or near a modern-day high’ – but still scope for renewal

     

  Anxiety over the future of democracy, the populist threat, authoritarian alternatives, growing illiberalism, and general democratic malaise may be misplaced, new research suggests. Public support for democratic ideals remains… Read more »