Browse: Home /
NGOs/Civil society
NGOs/Civil society
You are browsing the NGOs/Civil society tag archive.
By Michael Allen on May 18, 2009
The Arab world’s authoritarian regimes have proven adept at co-opting, penetrating and undermining independent civil society organizations. And nobody does it better than Tunisia’s superficially benign government – “Syria with a smile“.
Exiled journalist Bassam Bounenni details the regime’s interventions against the journalists’ union, the magistrates’ association and the country’s leading human rights organization. “But the [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Human rights, Middle East and North Africa, authoritarianism | Tagged Arab democracy, authoritarianism, dictatorship, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on May 11, 2009
An interesting post over at Stanford’s Bellum blog discusses the characteristics of a dirty war, a phenomenon under-analyzed by political scientists. It defines a dirty war as “a state’s attempt to target a section of its population within a deliberately created climate of impunity.”
It cites as examples Robert Mugabe’s persecution of Zimbabwe’s opposition and civil [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Global, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society | Tagged dirty war, genocide, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on May 8, 2009
Venezuelan civil society groups have warned that a draft NGO bill may be used to stifle critics of the increasingly authoritarian regime of President Hugo Chávez. A draft of the bill requires foreign funds for NGOs to be channeled through in a government-managed fund and distributed at the discretion of state officials.
“The law would give [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Democracy assistance, Latin America and the Carribean, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Venezuela, authoritarianism | Tagged authoritarianism, Democracy assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs/Civil society |
By Michael Allen on April 20, 2009
Robert Amsterdam asked some leading experts, featured in this interesting short video. Not at all, says David Satter: Medvedev is “completely dependent” on Vladimir Putin and has not even succeeded in creating his own political apparatus. Ariel Cohen notes that the president has his own team but the prime minister’s cronies control all the key [read full story]
Posted in Eastern Europe, Europe, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, authoritarianism, corruption | Tagged authoritarianism, corruption, democracy, GONGOs, medvedev, NGOs/Civil society, Russia |
By Michael Allen on April 17, 2009
Leading democracy and human rights activists feature in a global webcast this weekend to provide worldwide participation in the Geneva Summit for Democracy, Tolerance and Human Rights. The summit, held on the eve of the discredited U.N. Racism Conference, will include contributions on “Resisting Authoritarianism: Human Rights, Democracy and the Dissident Movement” from Egyptian dissident [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Democracy assistance, Egypt, Global, Human rights, Iran, NGOs/Civil society, Zimbabwe, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, dictatorships, dissidents, promoting democracy | Tagged authoritarianism, discrimination, dissidents, genocide, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, religious freedom, repression |
By Michael Allen on April 15, 2009
Authoritarian hybrid regimes present particular challenges to democracy assistance groups, a recent meeting at the National Endowment for Democracy heard. The arch of historical development no longer appears to be on a democratic trajectory as the post-communist optimism assumed by the transition paradigm and given further momentum by the color revolutions has dissipated.
A case in [read full story]
Posted in Azerbaijan, Backlash, Democracy assistance, Eurasia, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, economic crisis, foreign policy, media, promoting democracy | Tagged authoritarianism, azerbaijan, Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, GONGOs, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs/Civil society, Obama administration's foreign policy, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on April 15, 2009
Russia’s democracy does not need to be rehabilitated, President Dmitry Medvedev told Novaya Gazeta in an interview published today. “Democracy existed, exists and will be,” he said, in an unfortunate echo of the Soviet slogan “Lenin lived, lives and will live.”
He denied that Russians had embraced a self-denying social contract, ceding political liberties in exchange [read full story]
Posted in Eastern Europe, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, authoritarianism | Tagged democracy, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, social contract |
By Michael Allen on April 14, 2009
New approaches are needed to promote democracy and improve human rights in Russia given that criticism by U.S. officials has had “limited impact at best”, a new report suggests. “Private and public support for grassroots movements appears to have been more effective” but, given current levels of distrust, direct government support for Russia NGOs has [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Democracy assistance, Eastern Europe, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, Russia, Soft power, authoritarianism, corruption, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged authoritarianism, color revolutions, democracy promotion, democratization, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, pluralism, promoting democracy, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Soft power |
By Michael Allen on April 9, 2009
The National Endowment for Democracy “must continue to serve as a focal point for U.S. democracy assistance to non-state actors,” according to a new report. Democracy promotion should remain a priority on the foreign policy agenda but reforms are required to ensure that it is more effective, concludes Revitalizing Democracy Promotion: A Comprehensive Plan for [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Global, Labour/labor unions, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, democracy promotion, foreign policy | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, democracy support, National Endowment for Democracy, NGOs/Civil society, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 27, 2009
The European Union’s development and humanitarian aid chief has come under fire after failing to meet with independent groups during his recent visit to Cuba. It is the policy of the European Council, the EU institution representing member states, that dialogue with Cuba should include the democratic opposition and civil society.
But Louis Michel, the European [read full story]
Posted in Cuba, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, dictatorships, dissidents | Tagged cuba, dictatorships, dissidents, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society |
Recent Comments