The Islamic State was dealt serious blows with the loss of its territorial caliphate in March 2019 and death of its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, in October 2019, analyst… Read more »
Protesters around the world demanded change this year. While most protests were sparked by local issues, such as rising fuel prices or dissatisfaction with a leader, there were commonalities. Demonstrators… Read more »
Like all modern democracies, the U.S. needs a deep state, because it is crucial to fighting corruption and upholding the rule of law, argues Francis Fukuyama, a senior fellow at… Read more »
For much of the last decade, China and Russia have been waging political warfare against the West – and we simply didn’t notice, says the co-editor of a new analysis…. Read more »
Two countries became notably less despotic in 2019. In Sudan mass protests led to the ejection of Omar al-Bashir, one of the world’s vilest tyrants. However, the risk that thugs from… Read more »
Beijing’s response to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests demonstrates that far from enabling China’s peaceful reunification, the “one country, two systems” model is undermining it, argues Chin-Huat Wong, a professor of… Read more »
The United States ranks 15 in the Human Freedom Index 2019 released today by the Cato Institute, Canada’s Fraser Institute, and the Liberales Institut at Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom…. Read more »
….or will algorithms someday be used to optimize the ballot box, The Economist asks in a must-read long essay: @TheEconomist When it comes to eroding an existing democracy, rather than… Read more »
It is a mistake to conflate militarized forms of regime change with advancing democracy, observers suggest. The morality of a president’s foreign policy should be gauged on a rubric based… Read more »
The UN General Assembly will consider a draft resolution on protection of human rights in the occupied Crimea, according to a tweet by Ukraine’s Mission in the UN. “December 18, UNGA to consider a… Read more »