The war in Ukraine has confirmed that regime type is a crucial driver of international behavior, argues Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns… Read more »
A “long twilight struggle” between democracy and communism required Americans to bear fresh burdens, John F. Kennedy said in his 1961 inauguration speech. Two years later, Hannah Arendt stated in… Read more »
The U.S. should change its “ambitious post–Cold War habits of sometimes-forcible democracy promotion” and instead protect and advance human rights in “more voluntary and limited ways [such as] providing assistance… Read more »
Halfhearted reform in response to the COVID-19 crisis will simply renew the invitation to populists to take up arms against liberal democracy, a leading analyst suggests. A cautionary tale lies… Read more »
Democracy’s global travails continue to mount, notes a leading observer. What looked as recently as a decade ago to be real democratic progress in countries as diverse as Brazil, Hungary, South Africa, and Turkey has… Read more »
China and the Vatican will establish formal diplomatic relations sooner or later because Pope Francis has the “wisdom” to resolve problems between the two sides, a state-run Chinese newspaper said… Read more »
Vladimir Putin’s often arbitrary rule has “substantially retarded the growth of a rule of law state,” observers suggest. Even during the late Soviet period – after the party had come to… Read more »
In both developed and developing states, challenges to the liberal order are converging on a single main competitor, populist nationalism, which is a response to the tension between two central… Read more »
Think of two significant trend lines in the world today, writes Brookings analyst Robert Kagan. One is the increasing ambition and activism of the two great revisionist powers, Russia and… Read more »
When South African voters last month handed the African National Congress its worst-ever losses, seemingly chastened party leaders said they would engage in “introspection.” They promised to reach out to… Read more »