Can Venezuela be saved?
As Venezuela unwinds, Leopoldo López, the opposition’s most prominent leader, sits under house arrest and contemplates what might still be possible, Wil S. Hylton writes for The New York Times… Read more »
Beijing blasts Western critics who ‘smear’ China with ‘sharp power’
Beijing issued a harsh rebuke of Western critics who accuse China of using soft power as a vehicle to infiltrate other countries, as it kicked off its biggest political event… Read more »
Yellow ducks, anti-corruption and the fight for democracy in Russia
A yellow duck that landed a Russian opposition activist in jail this week has now taken center stage in a social media campaign to secure his release. A St. Petersburg… Read more »
Crushing Dissent in Egypt
Egypt’s State Information Service has called on Egyptian officials and “the elite” to boycott the BBC in response to a program – Crushing Dissent in Egypt – which it described as… Read more »
Rise of Islamism in Malaysia and Indonesia jeopardizing democratic gains?
The rise of Islamism in Malaysia and Indonesia could have severe consequences for the two states’ societies, political systems, and overall stability, says a leading analyst. Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib… Read more »
The Return of Global Russia
The Kremlin is relying on a highly adaptable toolkit to chip away at the liberal international order and to capitalize on the West’s inability to come up with a unified… Read more »
How the West got China wrong
Last weekend China stepped from autocracy into dictatorship. That was when Xi Jinping, already the world’s most powerful man, let it be known that he will change China’s constitution so… Read more »
Putin’s ‘strategy of chaos’ drives disinformation ops
Russia has firmly established itself as a democratic society following the path of freedom and independence, Russian President Vladimir Putin said – without a trace of irony – in his… Read more »
‘Breaking Point’ in Ukraine – fake news, real violence
The first line of the Ukrainian national anthem is “Ukraine has not yet died,” one interviewee says in “Breaking Point,” a fierce documentary about that country and its recent clashes with Russia…. Read more »
Is Vietnam going the way of China?
Activist Pham Doan Trang (above) said she was held for questioning by security officials for several hours on Saturday over her most recent book Politics for the Masses, which is outlawed… Read more »