Category: Democracy and security

35 years after Reagan’s Westminster Address: Reclaiming American Realism?

     

Advancing U.S. interests take should precedence over defending the “liberal international order” and the U.S. should not use its “national strength to uphold a fictive international community”, according to foreign… Read more »

Pro-democracy foreign policy reconciles interests and values

     

In the current global context of rising authoritarianism (left) and closing civic space, consistent omission of values in foreign policy equals public abandonment of moral purpose, argues Kate Bateman, a… Read more »

Democratic renewal will help the Free World ‘out of its defensive crouch’

     

Liberal democrats need to go on the offensive to counter the external authoritarians and internal illiberal forces undermining democratic institutions and liberal values, says a prominent commentator. Ideas have power,… Read more »

How modern authoritarians are breaking down democracy

     

  Modern authoritarianism has succeeded, where previous totalitarian systems failed, due to new strategies of repression, the exploitation of open societies, and the spread of illiberal policies in democratic countries… Read more »

New ‘global hub’ to wage battle of ideas for democratic renewal

     

The geopolitical retreat of the West, the authoritarian resurgence, the erosion of belief in democratic values, and the loss of faith in the efficacy of democratic institutions have halted democratic… Read more »

Russia-stoked transatlantic tensions signal ‘the end of the West’?

     

The West and Russia are locked in a fundamental paradigmatic disagreement, says analyst Kadri Liik. But that standoff is not centered around a competition between domestic political or economic models…. Read more »

Populism and the West: How to save world’s most successful political idea

     

For as long as many of us can remember, to be modern has meant to be Western, and to be Western has meant being at the forefront of pretty much… Read more »

‘Principled realism’ sacrificing human rights, democracy in ‘value-neutral transactions’?

     

Does a foreign policy of “principled realism” necessarily entail sidelining human rights concerns and offering few critiques of authoritarian leaders’ records on democracy, the rule of law and protecting essential… Read more »

Sustainable security depends on vitality of democratic institutions, civil society

     

Security and prosperity depend on the vitality of democratic institutions, including civil society, but loose definitions of terrorism are being exploited to close civic space and enhance authoritarian politics, according to… Read more »

The message NATO needs to hear

     

With Russia engaged in political warfare against Western democracies and the liberal world order itself under threat, the forthcoming NATO summit needs to hear a ringing affirmation of democratic values,… Read more »