Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

How to counter China and Russia’s game of distortion

     

  In the immediate aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at a Florida high school on Wednesday, an army of fake accounts began pumping out disinformation on Twitter using the #ParklandShooting hashtag, Wired reports,… Read more »

Democracy promotion: a strategic interest or ‘a four-letter word’?

     

Democracy promotion in one form or another has long been part of U.S. foreign policy, notes Adam Garfinkle, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. As American power… Read more »

Why governance reform is so essential – and so difficult

     

Governance is one of the most important foreign policy challenges—and among the most difficult, notes Brookings analyst Dan Byman: Poor governance is linked to civil wars, corruption and a lack of economic… Read more »

‘Dark clouds’ of extremism threaten Indonesia’s democracy

     

The United Nations’ human rights chief has warned of the “dark clouds” of political extremism and intolerance that are building over Indonesia. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has highlighted the blasphemy laws… Read more »

Kyrgyzstan: optimism tempered by corruption concerns

     

Kyrgyzstan’s citizens demonstrate sustained optimism over the country’s trajectory and economic performance, tempered by an overwhelmingly high number who think corruption is a problem, according to a nationwide poll by the International… Read more »

EU moves to counter autocrats’ influence in the Balkans

     

  The European Union sought on Tuesday to reinvigorate the membership ambitions of six Balkan states and reclaim the region as its own amid growing Russian and Chinese influence, setting… Read more »

Vatican ‘capitulates’ to China – a sign of Beijing’s growing sharp power?

     

China and the Vatican will establish formal diplomatic relations sooner or later because Pope Francis has the “wisdom” to resolve problems between the two sides, a state-run Chinese newspaper said… Read more »

‘Hyperdemocratization’ not to blame for western democracies’ ills

     

While concerns about illiberalism, populism, and majoritarianism are certainly well-founded, blaming such phenomena on an “excess” of democracy is not, notes Barnard College professor Sheri Berman, a contributor to the… Read more »

Authoritarian Advance: Responding to China’s Growing Political Influence

     

Two new studies suggest that Europe’s embrace of China, even as it warns against Russian meddling, might benefit from a certain degree of wariness. When it comes to Beijing, they argue,… Read more »