The Washington Post carries today’s must-read article, recounting the ordeal of former North Korean political prisoner Shin Dong-hyuk. The only known prisoner to escape from the Stalinist regime’s gulag, Shin was the victim of the most perverse form …

The indispensable Project on Middle East Democracy is running an interesting series of responses to the question, “As President, What Should Obama Say to the Middle East?”

A recent article suggested that Obama should give his first 100 days speech …

Australia is committing $3 million towards a new Indonesian-based forum to improve governance in the Asia-Pacific region. Controversially, the forum is open to all states across the region, including non-democracies, and will be backed by a new Institute for Peace …

In yesterday’s posting on Charter 08, a vitally significant initiative on the part of over 300 Chinese dissidents, intellectuals and officials, we neglected to include a link to the Charter itself. So here it is. Perry Link provides …

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a few short films to mark the occasion. But, as UN Watch reports, all is not well in the human rights field:

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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the Bali Democracy Forum today, at which some 33 states are expected to address the theme of “Building and Consolidating Democracy: A Strategic Agenda for Asia”. The forum would not promote any single form …

The evolution of Islamist parties in Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia indicates the conditions under which political participation might normalize them, a comparative survey from Australia’s Lowy Institute suggests.   

Drawing on case studies of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Indonesia’s Prosperous Justice …

Liu Xiaobo, a leading dissident who mobilized hundreds of Chinese thinkers and writers in calling for democratic reform, has been arrested. Police raided his Beijing home late on Monday a few hours before the release of the “08 …

Today’s must-read article comes from The Financial Times, which describes how civil society activists in Ghana are “pioneering a system that aims to harness the power of Africa’s mobile phones to prevent politicians from stealing elections.” The innovative use …

The U.S. should maintain financial and moral assistance to Arab reformers, despite concerns that such support provokes a backlash, a new analysis concludes. “The value of programs like the Middle East Partnership Initiative should not be discounted just because they …