China’s Repression Model: Tiananmen crackdown anniversary
A Taiwanese artist has created a giant inflatable depiction of the iconic “tank man” scene to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The photo of… Read more »
Russia’s ‘power vertigo’: Is time running out for Putin?
With economic conditions deteriorating and social turmoil escalating in various regions of Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s self-proclaimed “power vertical” is looking increasingly like a “power vertigo,” CEPA’s Janusz Bugajski observes:… Read more »
Advancing democracy reduces global turbulence
A much-reduced emphasis on promoting democracy and human rights adds to global turbulence, says Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of A World… Read more »
How the EU can solve its authoritarian creep
A union built to protect democracy faces authoritarian creep. Its leaders are divided over the best response, The Financial Times reports. The anti-democratic tilt in some EU states is an… Read more »
Venezuela at a critical crossroads: transition ‘stalled, not derailed’
President Nicolas Maduro called for an early election, Reuters reports (HT: CFR) for the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Many Western countries have recognized the head of the assembly, Juan Guaido, as… Read more »
How Kremlin’s ‘tools of malign political influence’ undermine democracy
Kremlin-backed hackers discussed plans to stir up racial resentment in the United States in hopes of tearing American society apart, according to secret documents obtained by a Russian opposition group…. Read more »
China’s ‘Algorithms of Oppression’: weaponizing artificial intelligence
Since April 2017, the Chinese government has interned, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared at least 435 intellectuals as part of its intensified assault on Uyghurs and erasure of their culture. This… Read more »
Populist right ‘has already won’ the European Parliament elections?
As voters prepare to elect a new European Parliament, Europeans feel disaffected with the performance of democracy in their countries. In six of the 10 European countries surveyed, half or… Read more »
Russia’s ‘opposition at a distance’ as new civil society emerges?
The entire politics desk of one of Russia’s top daily newspapers, Kommersant, quit on Monday in protest over censorship after two veteran reporters were fired. The walkout at the newspaper controlled… Read more »
Saudi crackdown targeting women’s rights activists
One year ago, just as the Saudi government finally ended the ban on women driving, many activists who had campaigned against the ban and for women’s rights more generally were… Read more »