Uganda: when democracy doesn’t count?

     

Uganda, one of the West’s most important African military allies, will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on February 18, notes analyst Helen Epstein: Despite strong opposition, this election may be… Read more »

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‘Good Wife’ faces unpleasant truths in post-war Balkans

     

The repressed return with a vengeance in “A Good Wife,” a classically styled directorial debut for acclaimed actress Mirjana Karanovic, who also takes the lead role in this tale of… Read more »

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Egypt’s durable Arab Spring: fear explains revolution’s failure?

     

  Today’s anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution—which led in quick succession to the overthrow of longtime President Hosni Mubarak, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood–affiliated candidate Mohamed Morsi, and… Read more »

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‘American original’ Robert Pickus spoke truth to power

     

Robert Pickus, who devoted his life to developing non-violent alternatives to war, died on Friday in St. Helena, Ca. He was 92, The New York Times reports: War, he argued,… Read more »

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Oil price collapse good news for Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts

     

The global collapse of oil prices is good news for Ukraine, says Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of Ukraine: What Went Wrong and How… Read more »

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Russia’s economic ills fuel radicalism in Central Asia

     

Central Asia’s authoritarian governments have rarely found it easy to keep a lid on social discontent or to inoculate their countries against chronic instability in Afghanistan. Ethnic tensions and religious… Read more »

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Putin says Lenin was wrong, Stalin right: US says Putin ‘corrupt’

     

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday criticized Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, accusing him of placing a “time bomb” under the state, and sharply denouncing brutal repressions by the Bolshevik government,… Read more »

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Authoritarian trendsetters’ antidemocratic toolkit

     

  Authoritarian trendsetters have created a modern antidemocratic toolkit that in many ways serves as the mirror image of democratic soft power, the National Endowment for Democracy’s Christopher Walker writes… Read more »

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Democracy in an age of anxiety: freedom the first casualty of fear

     

The fearful era in which we live is not conducive to defending democratic standards or extending democracy’s reach, according to the latest edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index…. Read more »

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