By Michael Allen on February 22, 2010
Many democracies have effectively abandoned human rights advocacy just as the world’s autocracies are becoming more assertive in promoting anti-democratic values and interests, writes Joshua Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
In the United States, he writes, “the age of global human-rights advocacy has collapsed, giving way to an era of realism unseen [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, China, Democracy assistance, Eurasia, Featured, Human rights, Must Read, National Endowment for Democracy, Russia, authoritarianism, autocrats, democracy, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratization, foreign policy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on January 7, 2010
Iran’s opaque political system has become arguably even less transparent given the continuing turmoil that has seen a fracturing of the ruling elite and the emergence of a diverse and pluralistic Green Opposition. Now a new must-read RAND study provides an illuminating guide to the Mullahs, Guards and Bonyads that comprise the vital core of [read full story]
Posted in Featured, Iran, Islam/politics, Must Read, Religion and Democracy, authoritarianism, democracy support, democratization, engagement, foreign policy, protests |
By Michael Allen on December 30, 2009
Re-writing history is an essential part of Russia’s drive to restore its lost status, but democracy activists have questioned whether the Kremlin’s History Commission is really needed to discover the truth about its Soviet past.
“There are lots of debates in our party, United Russia,” says pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov. …..“Regarding Stalinism, there are some things [read full story]
Posted in Must Read, Russia, authoritarianism, autocrats, communist regimes |
By Michael Allen on December 11, 2009
Minxin Pei’s Newsweek article on Why China Won’t Rule the World is one of Global Europe’s must-reads of the week, alongside President Obama’s remarks at the acceptance speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony; The real stakes in Afghanistan by Robin Wright; and Carnegie’s Karim Sadjadpour on Engagement with Iran.
Posted in Afghanistan, China, Iran, Must Read, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratization, engagement, foreign policy |
By Michael Allen on December 7, 2009
Has the Obama administration lost sight of the moral dimension of foreign policy? Have democratic values been set aside in over-reacting to what some perceive as the tainted legacy of the Bush administration’s Freedom Agenda?
Human rights and democracy advocates have criticized perceived policy shifts on human rights in China, Iran’s Green opposition movement and [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, China, Democracy assistance, Featured, Human rights, Iran, Middle East and North Africa, Must Read, NGOs/Civil society, democracy promotion, democracy support, foreign policy |
By Michael Allen on November 13, 2009
Why buy those weekly news digests like The Week when over at Global Europe, Uli Speck has started a very helpful compilation of foreign policy must-reads of the week?
This week’s offerings are Russia: Very Little to Celebrate — By Vladimir Ryzhkov, Moscow Times; The Legacy of 1989 Is Still Up for Debate — By Steven [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Iran, Must Read, Russia, authoritarianism, color revolutions, communist regimes, dissidents, foreign policy | Tagged 1989 |
By Michael Allen on November 12, 2009
Egypt’s Islamist opposition is facing leadership challenges, writes Ibrahim el Houdaiby. Increasingly influential Salafist/Qutbi forces are striving to marginalize relatively moderate figures like Essam el-Erian and Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh.
Obsessed with efforts to engineer Gamal Mubarak’s succession to his father’s presidency, the mainstream media is missing the emergence of a new political force in Egypt, [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Islam/politics, Labour/labor unions, Must Read, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, democratization, dissidents, freedom of expression, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on October 20, 2009
The fact that Tiananmen happened in China is one reason it did not happen in Europe, writes Timothy Garton-Ash. “Both opposition and reform communist leaders saw what could happen if it came to a violent confrontation, and redoubled their efforts to avoid it,” he writes.
However, the influence then reversed as the Communist Party in Beijing [read full story]
Posted in Eastern Europe, Iran, Must Read, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, promoting democracy, protests |
By Michael Allen on September 10, 2009
Today’s must-read: as heads of state finalize their travel plans for the United Nations General Assembly this autumn, Freedom House’s Christopher Walker identifies an “elite subset” of “leader-for-life regimes” – and their would-be imitators.
“Despite differences in political tradition, culture and history, all of these countries today share at least two critical common features: heavy restrictions [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Global, Must Read, authoritarianism, democracy and development, dictatorships | Tagged backlash against democracy, Freedom House, Third Wave of democratization |
By Michael Allen on August 27, 2009
Now is the “worst time” for Obama administration to pursue a policy of engagement with the Islamic Republic, says one of Iran’s most influential analysts. Engaging the regime would not only “grant legitimacy to a regime confronting a very deep crisis of legitimacy”, but also “alienate a democratically-inclined and growing opposition movement, which expects moral [read full story]
Posted in Human rights, Iran, Middle East and North Africa, Must Read, National Endowment for Democracy, foreign policy, protests | Tagged authoritarian electoral theocracy, democratic revolutions, engagement, Hossein Bashiriyeh, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, Reagan-Fascell Fellowships |
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