Why the U.S. shouldn’t welcome a Chinese ‘king’
China’s steady slide toward totalitarian rule is the exact opposite of what’s in the interests of the United States and the world, not to mention the Chinese people. The concentration… Read more »
Generalissimo Sisi: Egypt’s President for Life?
The Egyptian parliament is in the process of finalizing amendments to the 2014 constitution (right) that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office for twenty years,… Read more »
Ukraine ‘still involved in existential struggle’
After the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, the country will likely be stuck with an oligarch-linked president yet again. The two presidential front-runners are Volodymyr Zelensky, a… Read more »
How did Armenia pull off a democratic revolution?
For Armenia, a Russian ally, a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), and once regarded as increasingly autocratic, the 2018 Velvet Revolution was a remarkable achievement, writes Eurasia Democratic Security Network… Read more »
To defend liberal order, Western democracy must compete with alternative models
We are witnessing an intellectual transition to a worldview that is in equal parts “naïve, dangerous and ahistorical,” scholars Hal Brands and Charles Edel argue in a “brilliant” new book,… Read more »
Cultural ‘retro backlash’ driving authoritarian populism
Cultural divisions and resentments are driving the rise of authoritarian populism across the Western world, according to a new book. Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism, by Pippa Norris… Read more »
How Mongolia’s unlikely ‘oasis of democracy’ is eroding
Last week, Mongolia’s parliament stunned pro-democracy advocates when it voted to remove the safeguards protecting the independence of its courts and its anti-corruption agency. In doing so, the parliament helped… Read more »
The lost art of diplomacy for democracy
Diplomacy may be one of the world’s oldest professions, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood, says William J. Burns, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and… Read more »
‘Between hope and fear’? Ethiopia’s democratic breakthrough
One year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, Ethiopia continues to be the world’s most exciting democratic breakthrough. Since his appointment, Prime Minister Abiy has initiated a… Read more »
Will a comic actor become Ukraine’s next President?
It seems that, on March 31, Ukraine once again received a chance to accelerate its transformation, notes Brookings analyst Sergey Aleksashenko. Ukraine hosted the first round of presidential elections, with 39… Read more »