By Michael Allen on July 6, 2009
A loosening of Russia’s restrictive NGO law ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama is being applauded by civil society groups and human rights activists, who nevertheless stress that the changes cover only a third of NGOs and Russia’s human rights record remains poor.
The reforms place limits on the amount of NGO internal [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Eastern Europe, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, authoritarianism, corruption, dissidents, foreign policy | Tagged Carnegie Moscow Center, Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights, civil society, David Satter, Dmitiri Medvedev, garry kasparov, Lev Ponomarev, liberalization, Masha Lipman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, modernization, NGO law, Other Russia, Paul Klebnikov, Pavel K. Baev, Russia, solidarity, Stanislav Markelov, tandemocracy, Vladimir Putin, Vladislav Surkov, World Movement for Democracy, Yuri Dzhibladze |
By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009
Azerbaijan’s civil society has won at least a temporary victory in blocking proposed amendments to the NGO and media laws that many feared would close political space and harden the Caspian state’s purportedly soft authoritarianism.
The final draft dropped controversial provisions that significantly impeded foreign funding, required NGOs to disclose members; personal details, and prescribed harsh [read full story]
Posted in Azerbaijan, Backlash, Democracy assistance, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism | Tagged authoritarianism, azerbaijan, civil society, Civil Society Defense Committee, media laws, Media Rights Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, NGO law, soft authoritarianism |
By Michael Allen on June 9, 2009
A sustainable democratic breakthrough in Russia needs a combination of pressure from below, elite commitment to structural reform and extensive encouragement from abroad, according to Lilia Shevtsova of the Carnegie Moscow Center. But none of these essential drivers currently exist, she told Democracy Digest.
More likely scenarios are continued stagnation or a “systemic crisis and implosion, [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Democracy assistance, Eastern Europe, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Regions, Russia, authoritarianism, corruption, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged authoritarianism, civil society in Russia, Democracy Digest, democratic regression, Dmitri Medvedev, Indem Foundation, Levada Center, Liberal Mission Foundation, liberalism in Russia, Lilia Shevtsova, NGO law, reset U.S.-Russian relations, Russia, Russia's political elite, Russian democrats, Russian liberals, Russian nationalism, systemic crisis, Valdimir Putin, Vladislav Surkov |
Recent Comments