Bahrain will begin reconciliation talks this weekend with opposition groups, Reuters reports, in an attempt to end two years of conflict over demands for democratic reform.
Opposition groups contacted by Reuters suggested they would attend the talks but cited differences …
But there’s an exception to every rule.
“Evolving from pacifist to hawk …
“I think Kafka could not have written anything more absurd and unbelievable than this,” said Liu Xia (right), the wife of the jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo….
….when she described [
China’s largest private sector employer is planning to hold “genuinely representative” trade union elections in an attempt to address growing worker discontent and prevent further outbreaks of unofficial labor militancy. If the polls go ahead as planned …
February 4, 2013
in Asia, business, China, Democracy Assistance, Dictatorships, freedom of association, Human rights, Labor/labor unions, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs and Civil Society
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Free union elections for Foxconn workers – precedent or PR?
Vietnam’s Communist authorities are “is systematically suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and persecuting those who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule,” according to Human Rights Watch’s World Report …
Shortly after using her Twitter account, @yoanisanchez, to blame the “lethargy of the bureaucracy in Cuba” for her inability to get a passport, the well-known blogger Yoani Sánchez (right) received permission to travel, The New York Times reports:…
The Obama administration should be more assertive steps to in?uence the outcome of Arab Spring transitions, engage more broadly than government-to-government relations with a diverse set of actors, and employ leverage and incentives to affect the behavior of key actors, …
“North Korea may be the world’s most shrouded country, but on Tuesday Google Maps lifted the veil just a little, uploading a map of the police state complete with street names in the capital,” The New York Times reports…
Compared with the other emerging powers in the so-called BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), China has under-participated in global governance. The low supply of China’s contributions results from the limited interest of the Chinese authorities and limited capacity …
Democracy and human rights advocates are paying tribute to Max M. Kampelman, the veteran lawyer, political adviser and eminent Cold War diplomat, who died Jan. 25 at his home in Washington, D.C.
Kampelman made a major contribution to the eventual …