Learn the lessons of Russia’s creeping authoritarianism
A few hours before Vladimir Putin gave his 2014 new year’s speech, a shadowy group calling itself Shaltai Boltai — the Russian for Humpty Dumpty, the nursery rhyme character —… Read more »
Category: Eurasia
Russia ‘weaponizing misinformation’ to ‘disable’ western democracy
Russia is using cyber-hacks and “weaponizing misinformation” to undermine the West, the U.K. warned today. “Today we see a country that, in weaponizing misinformation, has created what we might now… Read more »
Has Putin poisoned another critic?
The U.S. ambassador to Moscow says the United States is monitoring the condition of Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a Kremlin critic who is in hospital with symptoms similar to those he… Read more »
Countering authoritarianism in cyberspace
Authoritarian regimes are increasingly adept at fragmenting and controlling the internet for purposes of censorship, surveillance, and internal and external propaganda and misinformation, note analysts Mario Loyola and James K…. Read more »
‘Dual threat’ from authoritarians, populists saps democracy, watchdog says
The resurgence of authoritarian powers and the emergence of “populist and nationalist forces” in democratic states have prompted a deterioration of democracy and growing threats to civil liberties, U.S.-based watchdog… Read more »
Russia’s new generation warfare ‘made a mockery of West’s soft power
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is furious at a decision to let Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin mouthpiece launch a blistering attack on Britain from inside the House of Commons, Russian spin doctor… Read more »
Azerbaijan abuse allegations mar high-profile trial
The Azerbaijan authorities should release 18 people, including a prominent religious scholar and a leading political opposition activist, who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences on January… Read more »
Nobel laureate Alexievich quits ‘shameful’ Russian PEN
Russian PEN has dismissed Svetlana Alexievich’s decision to leave the freedom of speech organisation, saying she cannot quit because she has never been a member – prompting the Nobel prize… Read more »
How the forward march of democracy was halted
Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, and of the apparent triumph of American values and power, U.S. policymakers now confront the very basic question of which values… Read more »
How to win at cyber warfare
The need for resilience in confronting Russia’s cyber warfare extends beyond bits and bytes to building up better political resistance to the influence operations that allows Russia to exploit its… Read more »