With rising awareness that simply holding elections does not a democracy make, investments in civil society are central to democracy promotion—helping to provide the education, information, and accountability without which… Read more »
The British vote on EU membership could be an early sign of a European political tsunami, as upstart “insurgent” political parties across the continent use referendums as their weapon of… Read more »
There is a downturn in civil and political rights in many of the world’s largest and most geopolitically significant countries, especially Russia, China, and Turkey, but also other countries such… Read more »
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia received the geopolitical equivalent of manna from heaven when British voters opted to leave the European Union, speeding his long-term goal of weakening the… Read more »
Even a brief analysis of the accusations being made by Russia against NATO shows that Moscow’s characterization of NATO as a hostile and dangerous organization has long been based… Read more »
Russia’s liberal opposition has been subjected to all kinds of pressure in the last few months, from leaked clandestine sex tapes to dubious court cases and physical violence. As parliamentary… Read more »
Is Vladimir Putin orchestrating Russian football hooligans as an instrument of hybrid warfare? Putin, not himself averse to machismo, has often empathized with Moscow ultras’ behavior, deliberately cultivating virility as a feature of an assertive… Read more »
The prospects of democracy in Belarus and Russia may be bleak, but pessimism is no excuse for inaction or apathy, according to Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich. Vladimir Putin is able… Read more »
For some observers, Vladimir Putin’s re-election in 2018 is a foregone conclusion; they see him as a virtual “president-for-life,” secure enough to ignore pressures that might force another leader to… Read more »
U.S policy towards Russia should be “based on a hard calculation of national interests and an unsentimental, non-ideological assessment of how Russia might help us advance or thwart our goals,”… Read more »
