Most US presidents since Woodrow Wilson have deemed democracy promotion a central focus of foreign policy, writes Joseph Nye. But, he suggests, the means of promoting democracy help shape the end product.

So when US Secretary of State Hillary …

Syria’s besieged President Bashar al Assad today declared the immediate establishment of a pluralist political system, a move interpreted as indicating he is “losing options as the nation descended further into chaos.”

The Obama administration has been accused of …

China’s ruling Communist Party has demanded greater honesty and transparency from public officials in the wake of a train crash in Wenzhou that prompted unprecedented public criticism of government incompetence and censorship. But the government directive itself provoked ridicule and …

Assisting Afghan civil society will be a vital element of much-needed efforts to repair relations between Washington and Kabul, writes former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. The US should rely less on costly – and locally resented – contractors and …

A “private Western organization focused on promoting democracy” was one of over 70 companies, governments and non-profit organizations targeted in a massive cyberspying offensive that experts believe was likely conducted by China.

In an analysis released today, the security …

RFE/RL reports that it’s time to add another item to the list of the top 10 tools of online oppressors recently published by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Iran was highlighted as a master of web blocking; Burma a dab …

Belarus’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, should learn from the Arab Spring and prepare for a peaceful democratic transition, says Poland’s foreign minister.

“It would be better for him not to learn from [Egypt’s Hosni] Mubarak or [Libya’s Muammer] Gaddafi but …

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was wheeled into a courtroom cage on a hospital gurney today to face trial for ordering the killing of several hundred protesters — “an image that thrilled those who overthrew him and must have chilled other Arab …

As the death toll in the latest crackdown in Syria reaches 125, including at least 100 dead in the besieged city of Hama (above), U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Syrian democracy activists today as the Obama administration …

Russia’s Interior Ministry has rejected the strong recommendations of a presidential commission to prosecute the investigators responsible for the jailing and treatment of Sergei Magnitsky (left), the Hermitage Capital lawyer who died in pre-trial detention.

The decision illustrates Russian President …