Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

Ukraine stunned as political elite’s vast wealth made public

     

  An anti-corruption reform requiring senior Ukrainian officials to declare their wealth online has exposed a vast difference between the fortunes of politicians and those they represent, Reuters reports: Some… Read more »

Orban leads surging illiberalism in CEE

     

Populist and nativist political parties have emerged throughout Europe, yet only in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have these illiberal democratic parties gained power, notes Jacques Rupnik, director of research… Read more »

Mosul highlights ‘post-conflict bipolar disorder’

     

What the Mosul operation should be making obvious is that whoever gets to the gaps in governance and civil society first and best will win the epic struggles of identity… Read more »

Spotlight on Egypt’s repression

     

In theory, Egypt’s Public Prosecution should be an independent, impartial institution, defending the rights of all Egyptians before the law, notes a new report from the Project on Middle East… Read more »

‘Countering violent extremism’ – challenges and responses

     

Violent extremism is caused primarily by religious ideology more than racism, poverty, military interventions by foreign governments and human rights abuses, according to a new global poll published this week… Read more »

Does culture affect foreign policy – and democratization?

     

  Western ideas—which many in the West believe are universal—collide with the ideals of Middle Eastern societies in ways that aren’t always obvious, argues Steven Cook, a Fellow for Middle… Read more »

Populism the ‘most menacing challenger’ to democracy

     

European democracy seems to be in jeopardy, and there is no shortage of culprits, notes Takis S. Pappas, associate professor of comparative politics at the University of Macedonia and coeditor… Read more »

No avoiding Mideast’s underlying issues of governance, corruption and repression

     

The next U.S. administration will inherit problems associated with the Middle East that are vastly more challenging than any in a generation as the old order has given way to… Read more »