Category: Democratic institutions

Georgia’s civil society warns of ‘democratic backsliding and state capture’

     

Over the decades, Georgians have made great strides in moving toward a truly democratic, European nation, despite daunting challenges — not least from Russia, which invaded in a brief but… Read more »

El Testigo: Colombia’s FARC revive dream of bringing down democracy?

     

Colombia will increase protection for political candidates running in October’s local and regional elections after the murders of seven aspirants, said President Ivan Duque. The killings have sparked renewed calls for… Read more »

‘Hong Kong’s Fight For the Rule of Law’: Holding the line against totalitarian advance

     

With Hong Kong’s society increasingly polarized by the ongoing unrest, external actors, including the U.S. Congress, the administration, and the legal and NGO community, can take steps to advance human… Read more »

Information warfare evolves, democracies defenses don’t

     

  China has framed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests as a foreign-backed movement that uses “thugs” to threaten the mainland’s sovereignty. The narrative might be working within the great firewall. Outside China? Not so much,… Read more »

Captive Society: What do Iran’s leaders really fear?

     

What do Iran’s leaders really fear? New York Times columnist Bret Stephens asks. Above all, a revival of the Green Movement that nearly toppled the regime following the stolen presidential… Read more »

How to win the data war against brittle autocrats

     

It can be tough to craft regulations and national security policies for data and technology that do not fall afoul of democratic and capitalist values, according to Eric Rosenbach, co-Director… Read more »

Artificial intelligence: Advanced democracies struggling to balance security & liberty

     

Advanced democracies are struggling to balance security interests with civil liberties protections in the deployment of artificial intelligence surveillance technology, according to a new analysis. Both liberal democracies and autocratic… Read more »

Little-known academic and media mogul advance in Tunisia poll

     

Two outsiders — law professor Kais Saied and media tycoon Nabil Karoui — are claiming an edge in Tunisia’s presidential vote, ahead of official results, VOA reports (above). The two… Read more »

New tactics, models, actors, and strategies needed to enhance democracy support

     

Democracy assistance is failing to adapt to the shifting dynamics of global politics evident in recent reports from such varied sources as Freedom House, the Varieties of Democracies project and The… Read more »

The Arab Region After the Uprisings: Struggling to define inclusive social contract

     

Since the 2011 uprisings, Arab countries have struggled to define a new social contract that would insulate their citizens from forces of exclusion—forces that range from poverty, inequality and unemployment… Read more »