Category: Democratic institutions

The ‘Great Online Convergence’: Digital authoritarianism comes to democracies?

     

  Russian civil society continues to dismantle pro-Kremlin disinformation, using both laughter and journalistic investigations. February has been a good month for those Russians who want to push back against pro-Kremlin… Read more »

Huawei: Will Europe ‘choose autocracy over democracy’?

     

Global competition between the U.S. and China is spurring countries around the world to increase their military spending, according to a new report by an international think tank that reported… Read more »

Defending democracy from its detractors

     

Modern anti-democrats tend to make two mutually reinforcing points, notes Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University: First, that voters cannot be trusted because they make… Read more »

How to protect democracy from cyber attacks

     

  Growing cybersecurity threats are disrupting democracies and relationships around the world, the Truman National Security Project observes.* Democracies are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks which can target institutions directly,… Read more »

Where and why people are satisfied with democracy

     

Global dissatisfaction with democracy has increased over the past 25 years, according to a recent Cambridge University report. Drawing upon the HUMAN Surveys project, the report covered 154 countries, with 77 countries… Read more »

‘Firm Up Democracy’s Soft Underbelly’: Autocrats winning war of ideas

     

The authoritarian resurgence will remain a major global risk in 2020 due to the many economic and social consequences of autocratic governance, according to Global Risk Intelligence. While some exceptions… Read more »

Magnitsky sanctions will protect free media, says report

     

Officials and prosecutors who arbitrarily detain journalists or impose blanket restrictions on free expression should be subject to a new regime of targeted international sanctions, according to a panel report… Read more »

‘Westlessness’: Liberal democracies’ malaise allows for renewal

     

A revitalization of the West in the world must start at home. But, in contrast to autocratic regimes, liberal democracies have built-in mechanisms that allow for course corrections and democratic… Read more »

‘Nowhere To Hide’: Who’s proliferating digital authoritarianism?

     

Is China pursuing a grand strategy to systematically proliferate digital authoritarian tools? China’s efforts vary by country, local context, and its own interests, argues Steven Feldstein, Chair of Public Affairs… Read more »

Stop advancing democracy and ‘learn to live with despots’?

     

Instead of advancing democracy we should aim for good enough governance, argues #FSI‘s Stephen D Krasner, a Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the… Read more »