The False Romance of Russia: Competing in the Gray Zone
Russia has been aiming to destabilize both its “near abroad” — the former Soviet states except for the Baltics — and wider Europe through the use of ambiguous “gray zone”… Read more »
Category: Dictatorships
Taiwan’s Destiny: Election at ‘center of a clash between two forces’
Taiwan’s top diplomat said that his government stands with Hong Kong citizens pushing for “freedom and democracy,” and would help those displaced from the semi-autonomous Chinese city if Beijing intervenes… Read more »
Art of Deceit: West’s strategic culture impedes political warfare against autocrats’ sharp power
Authoritarian states have taken a “whole-of-government” approach to weaponizing previously benign activities like diplomacy, media, investment flows, and civil society activity, says a new report. But their activities betray a… Read more »
China’s book-burning a sign of regime’s legitimacy crisis?
Library officials in northwestern China recently hoped to demonstrate their ideological fervor and loyalty to the Communist Party by purging politically incorrect books and religious materials in emphatic fashion: They… Read more »
Dramatic Cuban democracy breakthrough?
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has purchased the domain name Democracy.com “so it wouldn’t be used by someone with a political agenda,” he tells Yahoo Finance. Cuban said he acquired the domain… Read more »
Egypt escalates pressure on last independent media voice
Egyptian security forces targeted one of the last remaining independent news outlets in the country on Saturday, taking a journalist from his home and detaining him in an… Read more »
Iran ‘a powder keg’: Protests ‘strike at heart of regime’s legitimacy’
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened the U.S. and its allies Monday as he addressed a pro-government demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people denouncing last week’s… Read more »
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy election win ‘nothing short of a revolution’: Protesters ’embody democratic ideals’
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition won a stunning landslide victory in weekend local elections in a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam over her handling of violent protests that… Read more »
Democracies on the verge of a nervous breakdown?
If there’s a word that sums up the current mood of the West’s high command, it’s this: despair. That’s the clearest and most alarming takeaway from discussions with the assorted… Read more »
China denounced as ‘enemy of democracy’ after defector’s meddling allegations
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling party denounced China as an “enemy of democracy” on Monday following fresh claims of Chinese interference in the island’s politics ahead of presidential and legislative… Read more »