In a kleptocracy, criminal behavior is not individual, opportunistic, or sporadic, but rather collective, systematic, strategic, and permanent. It is a system in which all the high-level government officials are complicit, where… Read more »
The violent collapse of the Arab Spring has damaged the cause of liberal politics not just in the Middle East, but around the world. Strongman leaders are back in fashion… Read more »
In the aftermath of World War II, the victorious Western countries forged institutions — NATO, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization — that aimed to keep the peace… Read more »
Could democracy die in the US? Is a new wave of authoritarianism sweeping the world? Is the west about to be engulfed by civil conflict? FT columnist Gideon Rachman asks:… Read more »
One of the least discussed aspects of Brexit is the immense damage it will do to Britain’s standing as a global foreign policy player, notes Denis MacShane, a former minister… Read more »
The politicians who captured the spirit of the early 1990s were inspirational democrats such as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia — and liberal reformers such as Mikhail… Read more »
“China is simply not turning out as many had expected and have worked so long and hard to realize — a liberal China,” notes David Shambaugh, a professor of political… Read more »
First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond (above) has sought to assure the rest of the world that an independent Scotland would be another Norway—a wealthy mediator,… Read more »
Can Russia’s aggression be explained by Kremlin fears that a prosperous Ukraine could become a model for Russia’s opposition? While the West’s strategy has shifted the initial calculus for Russia… Read more »