Corruption was the major story for Latin America’s democracies this year, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index: Although scores declined for the region as a whole, there is… Read more »
Does the U.S. administration’s decision to restrict visas for Cambodians engaged in “undermining democracy” in the Southeast Asian nation validate the Economist’s observation that it’s not necessary “to have clear… Read more »
Chinese President Xi Jinping may be consolidating his power following the 19th Party Congress, because he believes China is facing its most challenging period, a U.S. analyst said Monday, UPI reports: Andrew… Read more »
Xi Jinping is quietly ramping up the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist party in a push for global “soft power”, The FT’s James Kynge writes in a… Read more »
Isaiah Berlin reminded us of a truth about liberal democracy of which the Founding Fathers, they of our checks and balances, were mindful, notes analyst Roger Cohen: “The best that… Read more »
A new narrative, or a new European political project, or an institutional revolution, is exactly what Europe needs, according to six recent books reviewed by Anne Applebaum, a board member… Read more »
Former Malaysian strongman Mahathir Mohamad says the opposition alliance campaigning to topple the country’s corruption-tainted leader can win the next general elections and pull Malaysia back from a slide into… Read more »
The timing of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s White House visit seems especially questionable, considering that it will come just a month after the Justice Department announced that it was proceeding… Read more »
With popular dissatisfaction over corruption increasing around the world, the term “kleptocracy” is often used as a catchall to describe any form of corrupt behavior by national elites. Yet transnational… Read more »
US withdrawal from the Balkans, mainly due to the absence of a consistent foreign policy agenda, has created a vacuum of leadership that other political actors are trying to assume…. Read more »