Beyond Daesh: Crisis of Governance and Imperative of Reform
Some 89% of respondents to the annual Arab Opinion Index (AOI) survey expressed negative and very negative views about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or… Read more »
Category: Democratic Governance
How to preserve Tunisia’s fragile democracy
Tunisia’s top diplomat wants the U.S. to “reach out more” to the tiny North African nation for collaboration against the evolving threat posed by the Islamic State — and to… Read more »
World entering an “illiberal moment,” a “post-truth, post-West, post-order” era?
The world may be heading into an “illiberal moment,” a “post-truth, post-West, post-order” era, characterized by democratic decline and growing support for authoritarian governance, the annual Munich Security Conference has… Read more »
Democracy ‘no longer the only game in town’
“Democracy is no longer the only game in town,” says Harvard political scientist Yascha Mounk. Mounk’s work first came to my attention this past summer, when he and Roberto Stefan… Read more »
Why are so many Tunisians joining Islamic State?
Unlike neighboring Arab Spring states that have been consumed by violent extremism, civil war and resurgent authoritarianism, Tunisia actually managed to build a vibrant democracy. A new poll from the International Republican… Read more »
Defending Liberal Democracy in Emerging Markets
In recent years, populist and authoritarian leaders around the world have openly sought to discredit liberal principles and undermine democratic values such as the rule of law and checks on… Read more »
Signs of deconsolidation? Democracy being tested, Obama warns
President Barack Obama has called on Americans to defend democracy in his farewell speech in Chicago, warning “democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted.” “Democracy can buckle… Read more »
Civil society countering Ukraine’s ‘corrupt counter-revolution’
In Ukraine, revolution and reform has given way to reaction, with vested interests entrenching themselves even further, notes Sergii Leshchenko, a Ukrainian journalist and a member of the Verkhovna Rada. Today,… Read more »
Don’t overstate turn from democracy
People in Europe and the United States have soured on the idea of democracy and have become open to nondemocratic ways to run their countries, according to Roberto Stefan Foa… Read more »
Youth set to drive another Arab awakening
The Arab world’s new generation – 60 percent of the population is under 30 years old – is “the largest, the most well educated and the most highly urbanized in… Read more »