Category: National Endowment for Democracy

Bolivia’s populist lessons for the West

     

Bolivia’s Evo Morales, a former leader of a coca-growers’ union, has won three elections fairly and by large margins. He hopes to win a fourth in October. But his attempts… Read more »

How to aid Armenia’s ‘democratic velvet revolution’

     

  Armenia is a case study of rising resistance to autocratic rule, says the 2019 World Report from Human Rights Watch. Authoritarianism has been met with a resurgence of  “individual… Read more »

From Hungary to EU: Orban exporting ‘alternative to liberal democracy’

     

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is often accused of promoting a form of ‘illiberal democracy’, where governance is rooted in the popular support of a majority of the country’s citizens,… Read more »

Transparency key to Nigeria’s ‘critical test of democracy’

     

The U.S. says Nigeria’s upcoming national elections will be “a critical test of democracy” and expresses concern at reports of intimidation and partisanship. The poll looks likely to be a close race between incumbent President… Read more »

Middle East braced for ‘future without stability or freedom’?

     

Unless something changes, the Middle East should brace for the worst of both worlds: a future without stability or freedom, the FT suggests. Public support for U.S. military action and… Read more »

Why Iran’s Islamic Republic hates Wednesdays

     

The compulsory hijab law is perhaps the most high-profile of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s many human and civil rights violations. Yet for Masih Alinejad (above, addressing the National Democratic Institute’s… Read more »

How to stop technology from damaging democracy

     

  Deepfakes threaten to erode democracy in The Coming Age of Post-Truth Geopolitics, say analysts Robert Chesney and Danielle Citron. The problem is not just that deepfakes can be used to stoke… Read more »

Rapid Response Mechanism can help counter authoritarian ‘sharp power’

     

China has been accused of engaging in predatory lending aimed at trapping countries in debt, acquiring strategic assets like ports, and spreading corruption and authoritarian values, not least in sub-Saharan Africa,… Read more »

Tunisia’s resilient democracy ‘at a critical inflection point’

     

  Thousands gathered Monday in Tunisia’s capital as the country marked eight years since a democratic uprising ousted its long-time strongman. The rally came amid deepening economic troubles in the… Read more »