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By Michael Allen on March 17, 2010
A “deluge of events” is hitting Cuba’s communist regime, notes Yoani Sanchez, the island’s leading dissident blogger:
The first drops fell at the beginning of January, with the death of several dozen patients in the Havana Psychiatric Hospital from starvation and cold. The flood of problems intensified with the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, pushed to [read full story]
Posted in Blogs, Cuba, Latin America and the Carribean, communist regimes, corruption, dissidents, engagement, freedom of expression, protests |
By Michael Allen on March 17, 2010
Pro-government goons harassed and abused the Ladies in White dissident group as the women marched in Havana to highlight the 2003 “Black Spring” imprisonment of 75 dissidents.
With dissidents’ hunger strikes attracting international attention, Oscar-winning director Pedro Almodovar has signed a petition demanding the release of Cuba’s political prisoners while Amnesty International marked the anniversary [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Featured, Human rights, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, communist regimes, corruption, democracy, dissidents, freedom of expression, protests | Tagged Amnesty International, Black Spring, Carlos Saladrigas, Cuba Study Group, democracy activists, Ladies in White, Marifeli Perez-Stable, National Endowment for Democracy, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Pedro Almodovar |
By Michael Allen on March 16, 2010
Did last weekend’s regional elections indicate growing voter fatigue with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling party? Or is his power vertical pretty much intact with the elections providing a convenient safety valve to defuse growing social unrest?
United Russia saw its share of the vote fall in seven of eight regional legislatures as voters registered their [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Featured, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Russia, authoritarianism, corruption, dissidents, protests, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on March 9, 2010
What if Greece were a Central European country?, asks Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria.
While a year ago many feared that Central Europe was too corrupt and politically unstable and its economies too liberal (too Anglo-Saxon) to survive the crisis, now it has become clear that it was actually [read full story]
Posted in Eastern Europe, authoritarianism, corruption, democracy, economic crisis, governance | Tagged Bulgaria, democratic consolidation, New European Democracies |
By Michael Allen on March 8, 2010
When Suharto’s military dictatorship and the economy collapsed simultaneously in 1998, observers expected Indonesia to lapse into chaos and violence. The prevailing scenarios held that without an autocratic figure to hold it together, the country would Balkanize or fall prey to fundamentalist Islam.
Instead, while the threat of radical Islamist terrorism has not dissipated, the country [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Indonesia, Islam and democracy, Islam/politics, autocrats, corruption, democracy, democracy and development, democracy promotion, promoting democracy, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on March 5, 2010
Innovative approaches to democracy support in the Middle East and North Africa, voter registration systems and democracy activists’ testimonies are but a few of the initiatives and publications highlighted in the latest newsletter from the World Movement for Democracy.
Later this month, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy launches its new publication, “Beyond Orthodox Approaches – [read full story]
Posted in Analysis, Backlash, Democracy assistance, Elections, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, accountability, corruption, democracy, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratization, emerging democracies, foreign policy, freedom of expression, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 3, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010 – 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM – The Iraqi Elections & the Changing Politico-Security Environment in Iraq – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. – Featuring keynote speaker Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, this one day conference presents a number of panels and experts discussing key issues of security and [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Analysis, Asia, Backlash, Blogs, China, Democracy assistance, Egypt, Elections, Fragile States, Iran, Iraq, Islam and democracy, Islam/politics, Journal of Democracy, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, National Democratic Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, Publications, Religion and Democracy, Russia, Soft power, Tools/technology, Women, accountability, authoritarianism, autocrats, backsliding, color revolutions, corruption, democracy, democracy and development, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratic reform, democratization, dictatorships, dissidents, economic crisis, emerging democracies, foreign policy, governance, media, promoting democracy, protests, religious freedom, rule of law, smart power, solidarity, state-building | Tagged Broadcasting in UN Blue: The Unexamined Past and Uncertain Future of Peacekeeping Radio, Center for International Media Assistance, Dalia Ziada, democracy in Mexico, Democratization in Africa, freedom of the internet for democracy, Human rights, Human Rights in the North Caucasus, Iraqi Elections, Islam and Religious Freedom, Islamic Republic of Iran, Mark Lagon, Mexican Media Under Attack, Mobilizing for Women's Rights and Eliminating Violence against Women, National Endowment for Democracy, Restoring America’s Reputation, Second Geneva Summit for Human Rights, velayat-e-faqih, Women in a Changing China, Women's Learning Partnership, Yemen, Zalmay Khalilzad |
By Michael Allen on March 3, 2010
If Afghanistan is going to outgovern, not just out-fight the Taliban insurgency, corruption and governance need to be at the top of the agenda.
The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the National Center for Policy Research (NCPR) of Kabul University made their own contribution to an arduous task with this week’s Kabul roundtable on [read full story]
Posted in Afghanistan, Center for International Private Enterprise, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, accountability, corruption, democracy, governance |
By Michael Allen on March 3, 2010
Politics can be more fun than this? Communist dictator Enver Hoxha’s statue bites the dust.
The most exciting event of his childhood was when crowds pulled down the huge statue of Enver Hoxha, Albania’s communist dictator. But now Erion Veliaj is organizing a new generation through a different approach to politics.
“We have to make politics fun [read full story]
Posted in NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Transparency, accountability, communist regimes, corruption, democracy, democracy support, governance, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 3, 2010
The apparently stable advantage of democracy over autocracy disguises worrying erosion in the quality of democracy, a new analysis suggests.
Democracy has not lost its normative appeal, but even established democracies have experienced “significant setbacks” in the freedoms of assembly, association and the press, as well as declines in political participation, civil liberties and social capital, [read full story]
Posted in Africa, Analysis, Asia, China, Cuba, Cuba, Elections, Europe, Featured, Georgia, Kenya, Latin America and the Carribean, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, authoritarianism, autocrats, backsliding, corruption, democracy, democracy and development, democratization, economic crisis, emerging democracies, freedom of expression, governance, media, rule of law |
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