Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president of 13 years, is often described as a “strongman” who enjoys near absolute power over the oil-rich nation on the Caspian Sea, The Financial Times reports:… Read more »
Observers are questioning the integrity of the constitutional referendum in Azerbaijan, in which the government reported 91 percent approval of sweeping constitutional changes, including extending the presidential term and increasing… Read more »
The recent death of Uzbekistan’s seemingly perpetual president has drawn fresh attention to the uncertainties of one-man rule elsewhere in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, writes Freedom House… Read more »
A leading pro-democracy group has responded to allegations of bias and misleading reporting by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. The regime attacked Freedom House for its reporting on its growing… Read more »
Autocratic regimes which repress civil society and curb human rights are “pursuing policies that will almost certainly fail,” according to Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of… Read more »
Earlier this year, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan looked like he was softening his authoritarian grip on his country, note David J. Kramer and Richard Kauzlarich. But since President Obama’s… Read more »
It is widely understood that corruption is a pervasive problem in many societies and undermines public confidence in the political system and government institutions, argues Carl Gershman, President of… Read more »
Can Muslim-majority countries strike a balance between faith and democracy? Al Jazeera asks. Or, is there an irreconcilable tension between liberal values and Islamic beliefs? When we discuss political Islam… Read more »
A top Azerbaijan investigative journalist, in jail since December 2014, has been freed on the order of the country’s supreme court, the BBC reports: Khadija Ismayilova‘s seven-and-a-half year sentence… Read more »
Azerbaijani authorities are using spurious drug charges to pursue long prison sentences against two youth activists. The charges apparently are in retaliation for painting graffiti on a monument. The authorities… Read more »