Eurasia
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By Michael Allen on March 19, 2009
Tolekan Ismailova, director of the Human Rights Center “Citizens Against Corruption” and World Movement for Democracy activist, was detained on March 18 with three other persons in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Women’s Learning Partnership, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy, reports that the arrests followed a peaceful commemoration of the anniversary of the March 2002 [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, corruption, protests | Tagged corruption, Eurasia, Human rights, kyrgyz, National Endowment for Democracy, protests |
By Michael Allen on March 18, 2009
Voters go to the polls today to vote in a controversial referendum as oil-rich Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev Aliyev becomes the latest “petro-president” to consolidate his grip on power by abolishing term limits. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez secured the necessary constitutional amendments last month, the Kazakh parliament lifted presidential term limits in 2007, and the Kremlin [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, corruption | Tagged Aliyev, authoritarianism, corruption, Elections, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on March 2, 2009
Azerbaijan’s Interior Minister Ramil Usubov today withdrew his lawsuit against Leyla Yunus, Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy. The Yasamal District Court accepted the climb-down which followed international protests from human rights and democracy advocates. “The appeals from the World Movement for Democracy played a [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Eurasia, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy | Tagged Eurasia, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs/Civil society, World Movement for Democracy |
By Michael Allen on February 13, 2009
Authoritarian regimes have become adept at creating government-organized NGOs as a “tool of choice for undemocratic governments to manage their domestic politics while appearing democratic.” Part of a concerted backlash against bona fide democratic actors, GONGOs also deflect attention and resources from genuine democratic actors, creating a misleading impression of a healthy civil society.
It [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Eurasia, Human rights, authoritarianism, media | Tagged authoritarianism, azerbaijan, Backlash, Eurasia, Human rights, media, obama |
By Michael Allen on February 9, 2009
Stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan requires engaging regional powers and extending the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), relatively effective in the former, to the latter, argues the New America Foundation’s Parag Khanna, author of The Second World: How Emerging Powers are Redefining Global Competition in the Twenty-First Century. He advocates Arab, Turkish and especially Chinese participation in [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Backlash, Eurasia, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged af-pak, Asia, authoritarianism, Backlash, democracy promotion, Eurasia, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on January 7, 2009
Observers have highlighted recent demonstrations by several thousand protesters in Vladivostok opposing a new tariff on imported vehicles as initial rumblings of discontent that may prefigure more widespread social unrest as Russia struggles to cope with economic meltdown and volatile oil prices.
The likelihood of serious economic, social and political turmoil is 50 percent, according to [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, authoritarianism, economic crisis, protests | Tagged authoritarianism, economic crisis, Eurasia, protests, putin |
By Michael Allen on December 31, 2008
Government control of key media outlets and interference in editorial decisions is diluting Georgian journalism’s democratic function, observers suggest. Democracy cannot exist without the kind of scrutiny and accountability that independent investigative journalism provides, says Sozar Subari, Georgia’s ombudsman for human rights.
President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government has come under fire for its opaque decision-making. Even after [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society | Tagged Eurasia, georgia, Human rights, misha, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on December 31, 2008
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday signed a law extending presidential terms from four years to six, apparently expediting Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. The move fed speculation that Putin, eager to act before the financial crisis further erodes his popularity, is unlikely to wait until scheduled elections in 2012 to return to the office.
The [read full story]
Posted in Elections, Eurasia, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism | Tagged authoritarianism, Elections, Eurasia, medvedev, NGOs/Civil society, putin |
By Michael Allen on December 23, 2008
While the European Union’s gravity model has been an incredibly successful engine of democratization within its borders, the EU is doing a poor job promoting democracy in its near neighborhood, a new report concludes. “Overall trends have been disappointing in most cases,” according to a report from FRIDE’s Richard Youngs.
“Democracy and human rights assistance remains [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, democracy promotion | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Eastern Europe, EU, Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on December 16, 2008
Russia’s Duma is considering a new law that will expand the definition of treason, a move lawyers and activists fear portends a revival of the punitive Soviet approach to dissent. Activists and lawyers suggest that the law is being pushed through in anticipation of increased political dissent and social unrest prompted by the financial crisis [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Eurasia, NGOs/Civil society, dissidents | Tagged Backlash, dissidents, Eurasia, kremlin, NGOs/Civil society |
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