The Arab Spring five years later
Five years have passed since the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia sparked revolts around the Arab world and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Despite high hopes that the… Read more »
Advancing democracy during retrenchment?
President Obama will seek to consolidate his foreign-policy legacy this year by traveling widely and working with allies to combat extremism and foster the rise of emerging democracies, according to… Read more »
Adapt or perish: the new normal for civil society?
One of the primary tactics governments are using to repress civil society is the stigmatization of activists and organizations. As such narratives have gained traction, donors and civil society leaders… Read more »
Why has ‘pivot’ to Asia had underwhelming results?
Throughout much of the 1990s and the early 2000s, Southeast Asia was one of the brightest spots for democracy globally. Since the late 2000s, however, the region’s democratization has stalled;… Read more »
Liberal democracies ill-equipped to deal with autocrats’ ‘hybrid warfare’
The latest version of Russia’s National Security Strategy is the most specifically anti-Western one to date, Leonid Bershidsky writes for Bloomberg: NATO and the European Union are accused of being… Read more »
China’s labor rights movement gaining momentum
Chinese authorities recently detained seven labor activists in the southern province of Guangdong, alleging that they were “inciting workers to go on strike,” and “disturbing public order,” among other… Read more »
Venezuela ‘braced for bitter political showdown’
Venezuela is braced for a bitter political showdown as the opposition takes control of parliament, pitting the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro against a coalition of lawmakers who aim… Read more »
Better Media: Lessons Learned from Central and Southeast Europe
How can the media development and donor communities respond to this backsliding? What areas of the media system proved to be weak points in countries like Serbia, Bosnia, or Bulgaria,… Read more »
Cuban dissidents freed in rapprochement back in custody
President Obama may go to Cuba this year if its government bolsters its human rights record and opens its doors more fully to American business in the coming weeks, a… Read more »
Restless Russia: Kremlin Bracing for Spring of Discontent?
Predicting a coming Russian revolution has been a favorite hobby of Russia watchers for years now. But since President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the doomsaying has… Read more »