Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

Mustafa Dzhemilev: Crimean Tatars ‘known for history of nonviolent resistance’

     

Russia’s federal security service, the FSB, this week claimed to have discovered and terminated the activity of a so-called ‘extremist group’, allegedly created by Crimean Tatar leaders Mustafa Dzhemilev (above)… Read more »

North Korea: civil society groups confront abysmal rights climate

     

The South Korean government should press the United States to discuss the appalling human rights situation in North Korea when US President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim… Read more »

Impatient dictators: ‘How to Rig an Election’

     

Authoritarian states are using all-too familiar constitutional mechanisms to consolidate power, according to activist-journalists Tamara Grigoryeva and Ismail Djalilov. Across Eurasia, snap elections happen rather frequently, they write for Open… Read more »

To ‘mature as a democracy’, Malaysia’s ‘sick-minded’ corruption must end

     

Malaysia’s new government on Monday established a special task force to probe possible criminal offences relating to country’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund, the FT reports: The task… Read more »

After ‘sham election’, four steps for rebuilding Venezuela’s democracy

     

Electoral authorities declared President Nicolas Maduro, the Council on Foreign Relations notes, with about 68 percent of votes cast, the winner in a Sunday snap presidential election. Roughly 46 percent… Read more »

Armenia needs ‘institutional backbone’ to sustain democratic breakthrough

     

Converting Armenia ’s ‘Velvet Revolution’ into a sustainable democratic transition requires establishing an  “’institutional backbone” to ensure there is no reversion to corrupt, autocratic governance, says Daron Acemoglu, a Turkish born… Read more »

Violent Extremism in Indonesia: Vulnerabilities and Sources of Resilience

     

The recent suicide bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia highlight the country’s continued struggle with radicalism and terrorism. Claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), these attacks typify… Read more »

Exporting Beijing’s surveillance state: sharp power in action

     

If China gains dominance over digital technology, it would be dangerous for freedom world-wide, says Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2007-09) and head of policy planning in… Read more »

Gaza: Hamas’s social warfare strategy in action

     

  Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border have dropped off over the past two days, with Israel on Wednesday pointing to what it said were Egyptian efforts to restore calm… Read more »

Power, Fairness, and the Future of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

     

After the revolutions of 1989, Central and Eastern Europe was an exciting place to watch, with democracy seemingly poised to take root. Yet, nearly thirty years later, Westerners who had… Read more »