Category: Democracy Assistance and Promotion

How to re-ignite democracy: Recovering the promise of 1989

     

  After communism fell, the promises of western liberalism to transform central and eastern Europe were never fully realized – and now we are seeing the backlash, argue Ivan Krastev and Stephen… Read more »

Liberal democracy ‘alien to human nature’? Intense battle for political minds and souls

     

A dramatic debate between US strategist Stephen Bannon and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy* at the Athens Democracy Forum, illustrated the intensity of the battle for political minds and souls, The… Read more »

Poverty & Freedom: Inequality feeding democracy’s susceptibilities to degeneration?

     

Enhancing global prosperity must begin with supporting locally-led initiatives that eliminate institutional barriers to freedom—and give citizens greater choice over their future, according to a new book. Governments and philanthropists… Read more »

AI, big data and democracy’s future: Misinformation, echo chambers & targeted propaganda?

     

While digital transformation has enriched societal discourse, it has also led to an increase of “misinformation, echo chambers and targeted propaganda” and provided authoritarian states with new means of surveillance… Read more »

Democracy in a post-Western order: decline or renaissance?

     

The U.S.-led liberal order, built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successors, is being  dismantled, according to a leading strategist. The U.S. emerged from the horror of the 1940s as… Read more »

Demolishing Faith: China sharpens hacking to hound minorities, home and abroad

     

China’s hackers have since built up a new arsenal of techniques, such as elaborate hacks of iPhone and Android software, pushing them beyond email attacks and the other, more basic… Read more »

From ‘Responsibility to Protect’ to ‘Right to Assist’ Civil Resistance?

     

A “Right to Assist” could help prevent violent conflict and ease democratic transitions. But several important questions remain unanswered, argues Council on Foreign Relations analyst Stewart M. Patrick.  Despite the… Read more »

Post Wall, Post Square: 1989 – The Light that Failed?

     

Like 1776, 1789 and 1917, the year 1989 was one of those rare moments that mark a decisive turning point in human history. So, at least, it seemed at the… Read more »

Renewing democracy in the age of populism

     

Participation without populism is one of three practical solutions to the core challenges facing democracies in the West, according to Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, co-authors of “Renovating Democracy:  Governing… Read more »

Tunisia’s ‘Robocop’ revolution: No easy lessons from new Arab democracy

     

Despite Tunisia’s vote for change, enduring miseries are driving an exodus of youth, Reuters reports. A survey by the Arab Barometer research network said a third of all Tunisians, and… Read more »