Global Civic Activism in Flux
For civic activism, it appears to be both the best and worst of times, argues analyst Richard Youngs. The positive dynamics of empowerment and the negative trend of constraints on… Read more »
Time to combat ‘frightening authoritarian populism’
Tony Blair is launching a “new policy platform to refill the wide open space in the middle of politics” aimed at combating a “frightening authoritarian populism” that he says is… Read more »
Kleptocratic Russia’s plot against the West
With Europe’s political stability, social cohesion, economic prosperity and security more threatened today than at any point since the Cold War, Russia is destabilizing the Continent on every front, argues… Read more »
Colombia peace deal gives way to rights activists’ killings, UN says
A new U.N. report found that dozens of civil society and human rights activists were killed in Colombia, the BBC reports. The report coincides with growing concerns that a historic… Read more »
Soft power not enough in the Balkans
The 21st century in the Balkans is starting to look dangerously like the 19th — with one important difference. In the 19th century, Russia and Turkey were big rivals in… Read more »
Legislating authoritarianism in Egypt
Egypt’s new authoritarian regime is rapidly closing the public space—cracking down on autonomous civil society and independent political parties, asphyxiating the practice of pluralist politics, and thwarting citizens’ peaceful and… Read more »
A Difficult Balance: Putin’s Regime and the Ideological Market
Like the Soviet nomenklatura, the Putin elite is dangerously isolating itself from the Russian people, setting the stage for a populist challenge against its privileges, says Yevgeny Gontmakher, the Moscow… Read more »
Enhancing government transparency in Paraguay
Access to public information and government transparency in Paraguay are enhanced by a new agreement between the Institute of Law and Environmental Economics (IDEA) and the Office of Citizen Attention,… Read more »
Ukraine: Europe’s East Faces Unsettled West
The Kremlin’s attempts to destroy Ukraine’s European aspirations is simply one of Russia’s many challenges to the post-World War II international liberal order, notes analyst Natalie A. Jaresko. The actions… Read more »
Crimes of a Belligerent State: North Korea’s Human Rights Abuses
Pyongyang is the world’s worst human rights violator, and yet, the Kim regime’s behavior at home cannot be dismissed as an isolated threat far from America’s shores, as North Korea’s… Read more »