Myth of Putin starts to crumble
Since the start of the 21st century, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dominated Russian politics. So much so that global media often refer to him as a czar and dictator…. Read more »
Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion
Bulgaria poll a setback for Putin?
Bulgaria held parliamentary elections on 26 March, with preliminary results indicating that GERB, led by Boyko Borisov (left), had emerged as the largest party, says Dimitar Bechev, a Nonresident Senior Fellow… Read more »
Lebanon’s emerging protest movement prompts anti-corruption pledge
Lebanon’s government has vowed to end corruption following a week of street protests. The protesters were demonstrating against tax hikes which the government claims are necessary to fund an overdue… Read more »
Why Europe’s ‘last dictator’ is allowing Belarus protests
Where the Soviet system was rigid, today’s autocrats are flexible and pragmatic, writes Freedom House analyst Arch Puddington: Where the older generation of communists were bureaucratic and slothful, today’s dictators… Read more »
Bolivia’s Road Ahead
Bolivia’s likely political trajectory is discussed by Bolivian political analyst Raul Peñaranda (left), a Reagan-Fascell fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy; Jose Manuel Ormachea of the Bolivian National Network… Read more »
The biggest threat to Gabon’s president
When he was sworn in for a second seven-year term last September, Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, renewed a call for all political actors “to sit together and find solutions” after an… Read more »
Cambodia’s Communist comrades now capitalist cadres
For years, Tep Khunnal was the devoted personal secretary of Pol Pot, staying loyal to the charismatic ultracommunist leader even as Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge movement collapsed around them in the… Read more »
As democracy retreats, famine recurs
The economist and philosopher Amartya Sen wrote that famines do not take place in true democracies. If democracy is in worldwide retreat, famines could make a gruesome comeback, The FT’s David… Read more »
Turkey heading for dictatorship, exposing underlying ideology
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Europeans on Wednesday that they would no longer be able to walk safely in the street if Western politicians continued with perceived provocations against Turkish… Read more »
Russia’s anti-corruption protests ‘likely to be large’ as ‘Laundromat’ highlights kleptocratic rule
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny today declined Moscow city authorities’ proposal to hold an anti-corruption rally on 26 March in the Lyublino or Sokolniki districts of the capital, instead calling… Read more »