Category: corruption

Corruption, Extremism, Kleptocracy: the Dangers of Failing Governance

     

Corruption is a pervasive problem in many societies and has the effect of undermining public confidence in democratic institutions, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard today. “All countries, to one… Read more »

Making democracy work in Central and Eastern Europe

     

In Central and Eastern Europe, conservative nationalist governments in Hungary and Poland are causing alarm in western European capitals that democracy itself is under sustained challenge in the post-communist half of Europe,… Read more »

The Middle East Unbalanced

     

  In 2011, the political trajectories of many Arab states appeared to converge as protesters across the region revolted against corruption and authoritarianism, demanding dignity and acknowledgement of their basic… Read more »

Iran’s Islamic Republic ‘in a period of flux and tension’

     

The 2016 elections resulted in important gains for moderates in the parliament and the Assembly of Experts, reaffirming developments that have been visible in Iranian politics since 2013, Stanford University… Read more »

When Russia glimpsed freedom – for a moment

     

In the years since the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, Russians experienced the longest period of freedom in their thousand-year history — and then lost it, notes David E. Hoffman,… Read more »

Ukraine struggles to shake off legacy of kleptocracy

     

A case of possible influence-peddling under review by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau is hardly the only worrying sign for a government swept into power in 2014 on a wave of… Read more »

Peru’s fragile democracy still faces twin threats from Fujimorismo

     

Peru’s presidential election hung in the balance on Monday, with the economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (left) holding the narrowest of leads over Keiko Fujimori, daughter of a disgraced former president, The Financial Times… Read more »

Russia’s election countdown: ‘No one untouchable’ on violations?

     

The head of Russia ‘s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that an interdepartmental working group is being set up to quickly react to election violations, the Moscow Times reports:… Read more »

Nigeria ‘running on empty’?

     

A former Nigerian military dictator has just won a historic democratic election and is sworn in amidst tremendous international and domestic goodwill, notes analyst Amaka Anku. He immediately goes to… Read more »