Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

Can Poland’s ‘authoritarian turn’ be stopped?

     

Poland’s populist Law and Justice Party appears intent on imposing quasi-authoritarian control over its unruly democracy, analyst Max Boot writes for Commentary.   A new draft Law on Higher Education… Read more »

To integrate Islamist parties, invest in civil society

     

If Egypt’s liberal activists had tolerated Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi’s illiberal but weak rule until he could be voted out, democracy might have had a chance, David D. Kirkpatrick suggests… Read more »

Zimbabweans disillusioned by post-poll crackdown

     

  The jury remains out as to whether Zimbabwe’s recent election had achieved the promised clean break with the past of the Mugabe era, says Freedom House’s Michael Abramowitz. Any… Read more »

Can Ethiopia be a ‘goad’ for democratic change in East Africa?

     

Ethiopia can be a goad to change, if its economic growth rate and its continuing democratic movement are both maintained, says Freedom House analyst Jon Temin. The April 2018 election… Read more »

Which model for ASEAN – Cambodia or Malaysia?

     

Which political model are countries in the ASEAN region more likely to follow – Cambodia or Malaysia? analyst Simon Roughneen asks in the Nikkei Asian Review. With an increasingly powerful… Read more »

McCain passing the torch at democracy institute

     

For the first time in 25 years, the International Republican Institute will have a new leader. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is battling brain cancer, has decided to step down… Read more »

Zimbabwe poll ‘charade’ proves ZANU-PF leopard can’t change its spots

     

Zimbabwe police stormed the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the capital Harare on Thursday and detained 16 people after sealing off the building earlier, a… Read more »

West’s Iron Curtain ‘would be most effective tool against Putin’s kleptocracy’

     

There is a major difference between former Soviet leaders and senior Russian officials today, including Russian President Vladimir Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov, whose families are abroad, former… Read more »