Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

Tunisia protests highlight trade-off between democracy and strong economy?

     

One person has died, 50 policemen have been injured and more than 200 people arrested in two nights of widespread and violent protests across Tunisia, driven by anger over steep price… Read more »

Six steps to counter Putin’s ‘asymmetric assault on democracy’

     

A new report warns of deepening Russian interference throughout Europe and concludes that even as some Western democracies have responded with aggressive countermeasures, the U.S has no strategic plan to… Read more »

Iran ‘outsmarted itself’ in silencing civil society?

     

Iran in large part considers peaceful activism a “threat to national security,” and those who warn about festering popular grievances and rampant corruption are treated as seditionists, notes Tara Sepehri… Read more »

Egyptian colonel jailed after announcing presidential bid

     

An Egyptian army officer was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday after announcing his intention last month to run in the country’s 2018 presidential election, his lawyer and… Read more »

Can Europe step up on global democracy support?

     

The new U.S. National Security Strategy raises a number of questions, the Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer writes for TIME: How does the principle of “America First” square with plans to promote democracy… Read more »

Toxic cash: Russia’s ‘sovereign civil society’ program

     

By banning NGOs from receiving foreign funding, the Russian government has forced them to seek financial support at home. But state grants undermine civil society’s independence, notes Andrey Kalikh, a… Read more »

How to counter China’s sharp power? Ask Australia

     

This week’s Economist dedicated its cover story to the issue of China’s growing influence strategy, referencing the National Endowment for Democracy’s excellent report on Beijing’s “sharp power” strategies, notes Council on Foreign Relations analyst… Read more »

R.I.P. Memorial’s Arseny Roginsky: fought to keep memory of Soviet crimes alive

     

Arseny Roginsky (left), a veteran activist who was chairman of the respected Memorial human rights society, has died after a life chronicling abuses and injustice in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet… Read more »

Why junking democracy promotion would be ‘a grave mistake’

     

Democracy promotion has become associated with some of America’s greatest foreign policy failures of the 21st century, and it is increasingly seen as an unaffordable luxury in a dangerous world,… Read more »

A ‘Sputnik Moment’? What to do about China’s ‘sharp power’

     

China is manipulating debate in Western democracies by employing “sharp power”, a term coined by the National Endowment for Democracy. “Soft power” harnesses the allure of culture and values to… Read more »