Vietnam moving to smother dissent
There are growing signs that Vietnam’s government is moving to smother dissent, as the one-party regime in recent days has labeled a pro-democracy group a terrorist organization, imprisoned a blogger… Read more »
Category: Dictatorships
Imprisoned Uighur scholar given top human rights award
A prominent Uighur scholar jailed in China after speaking out against repression in his native Xinjiang was named on Tuesday as the winner of a prestigious international human rights award… Read more »
Regime ramps up repression as Russia ponders return to Cuba
The Russian military is considering the possibility of regaining its Soviet-era bases on Cuba and in Vietnam, the Defense Ministry said Friday, a statement that comes amid growing U.S.-Russia tensions… Read more »
Identifying vulnerability in North Korea’s leadership
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un wears several “hats”—or holds several positions of authority—that enable him to command the challenging, albeit ruthless, issues that come with being a totalitarian dictator, analyst Robert… Read more »
Five ways China is more repressive
Respect for human-rights and rule of law have deteriorated markedly during the term of Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a new U.S. government report, which blames an ideological tightening… Read more »
Neo-Maoist Xi Jinping’s ‘Putinesque’ ambitions?
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, appears prepared to defy the Communist Party’s established script for transferring power and delay the designation of his successor until after a party congress next… Read more »
Expelling HK activist, Thailand ‘fits a global pattern’
Thailand on Wednesday barred entry to a Hong Kong student activist who helped organize pro-democracy protests in the Chinese-ruled city in 2014, with a Thai newspaper saying he had been… Read more »
‘Disciplined democracy’ – Myanmar’s lessons for Cuba
In many ways, Cuba today resembles the Burma (Myanmar) of 10 years ago, argues Casey Cagley, Program Officer of the Latin America and Caribbean Division of the International Republican Institute…. Read more »
Neo-Maoist Xi consolidates power, cracks down on activists, Tibet
A year before a Communist Party conclave that could decide who will eventually replace him as China’s next leader, President Xi Jinping is maneuvering to reduce the power of a… Read more »
Saudi Arabia – can it really change?
In January, I went with my editor in chief from The Economist to Saudi Arabia to meet Mohammed bin Salman, a young, previously little-publicized royal, known to his courtiers as… Read more »