Countries dependent on revenue from extractive industries are plagued by government mismanagement, lack of transparency and corruption, according to a new report.

A “striking governance deficit” prevents citizens of resource-rich states from enjoying the benefits of energy development and mining, …

“A thriving underground social media network is challenging the Communist government’s grip on power and information in Cuba and beginning to bring change, a leading dissident said on Thursday,” Reuters reports:

“There is a network of clandestine information, the …

“Doing business in post-Hugo Chávez  Venezuela is not for the faint of heart,” writes AP’s Fabiola Sanchez:

Thousands of companies suffer under currency controls that all but deny them the U.S. dollars they need to import vital items into …

Nigeria’s diversity is given political expression in federalism, but shared problems have a unifying effect across state, class, religious and ethnic lines, writes Dave Peterson, the National Endowment for Democracy’s Africa Program Director, who recently returned from an …

Vietnam’s rapid growth has not undermined social cohesion, which helps explain the country’s 53rd place ranking on the Legatum Institute’s 2012 Prosperity Index — placing it higher than China, Thailand or Indonesia. But, while lauded as the poster child for …

Democracy, in the form of “accountable governance,” is one of the primary drivers of prosperity, according to a major new survey.

Some 27 out of the top 30 countries in Legatum Institute’s prosperity index are democracies, although India, …

Whether Egypt transitions into a state resembling Turkey or one similar to Pakistan will depend in part on continued support for the country’s civil society through a new U.S.–Egyptian strategic dialogue that balances regional security concerns with support for political …

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi today urged “healthy skepticism” over Burma’s reform process, insisting that the rule of law was need to consolidate political liberalization and attract investment.

“These days I am coming across what I call reckless optimism,” …

Egypt is going through a period of enormous promise through citizen empowerment, writes Sahar Aziz in this guest post. But for Egypt to achieve sustainable democracy, many reforms remain to be implemented, the most important of which is public access …

Cuba has long lost its revolutionary cachet as a socialist utopia, a new analysis suggests. In fact, with growing inequality and a shrinking, ageing—and emigrating population, it is “starting to resemble the rest of Latin America, but without political liberties,” …