Category: Governance

Fine-tuning support for Ukrainian democratization

     

Ukraine has made some progress along the path of democratization, but the government has stalled on many reform imperatives and has recently been mired in a debilitating political crisis, argues… Read more »

Panama Papers give glimpse through keyhole of kleptocracy

     

The Panama Papers are a glimpse through a keyhole of an orgy of tax evasion, money laundering and kleptocracy – amid the legitimate financial planning – hosted by the world’s… Read more »

Illiberal powers emboldened – Authoritarianism Goes Global

     

  Over the past decade,  and gained influence within the global arena. Leading authoritarian countries―including China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela―have developed new tools and strategies to contain the… Read more »

Critical open letter highlights ‘paranoia’ within China’s ruling party

     

A series of extraordinary outbursts of public criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent weeks has raised the question of whether his crackdown on dissent is backfiring, the Washington… Read more »

The Great Fall of China?

     

  Unless the Chinese Communist party’s general secretary, Xi Jinping, introduces major political reforms, the economy will tank and the party will crumble, David Shambaugh argues in “China’s Future.” The… Read more »

Egypt’s civil society crackdown: rights defenders at risk of prosecution

     

Fourteen global human rights groups today urged Egypt to halt a renewed crackdown on civil society and rights defenders. The demand came as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a cabinet… Read more »

China’s ruling party ‘struggles for a new normal’

     

Two remarkable documents emerged from China last week, notes ChinaFile: the first is the essay “A Thousand Yes-Men Cannot Equal One Honest Advisor”—available here in Chinese and translated here into English—which appeared on the website… Read more »

Cubama: a ‘new day’ or a ‘slap in the face’ for U.S.-Cuba relations

     

Change is coming to Cuba, President Barack Obama told his Cuban counterpart today, after  Raul Castro called on the U.S. to lift longstanding trade and other restrictions as part of… Read more »

Obama Doctrine – pendulum swung too far?

     

  For any believer in the trans-Atlantic alliance, liberal interventionism and the overall beneficence of American power, President Obama’s long exposition of his foreign policy to Jeffrey Goldberg in The… Read more »