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Anthony Dworkin writes about the impact of recent events in Tunisia on democracy in the European Council on Foreign Relations. Tunisian President Kais Saied has moved the country in a steadily more authoritarian direction over the past year, giving himself the power to rule by decree and attacking judicial independence. Last week, he went one … Continued
Erol Yayboke, Catherine Nzuki, and Anastasia Strouboulis provide an overview of the newly-announced prologue to the 2020 U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, the Global Fragility Strategy (GFS). Priority countries that will be the focus of targeted violence prevention programming and new congressionally appropriated funding include Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Benin, … Continued
Laura Thornton in the Atlantic reminds us of the democracy fighters in autocracies, reminding us that the struggle between democracy and autocracy depends not on locations and borders, but is rooted in the values and ideas held by the people. The author criticises the approach taken by the Summit from Democracy and broader framing by … Continued
The Digital Impact and Governance Initiative (DIGI) compiled a list of the over 100 commitments made that related specifically to technology and democracy. DIGI identified six broad areas of focus: Institutional readiness Digital transformation Information integrity Free, open and interoperable internet Critical and emerging technologies Cybersecurity and countering authoritarianism The list is available in a … Continued
Bálint Magyar and Bálint Madlovics in Project Syndicate illuminate the depth of Fidesz manipulation in Hungarian elections on 3 April. Fidesz manipulates elections by changing the rules of the game, with hundreds of amendments made over the past years to the election law. The party also wielded the power of state machinery, with cash payments … Continued
Andy Heil defines six main takeaways from the 3 April Hungarian elections in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Initial results indicate that ruling party Fidesz will control two-thirds of the seats in the next parliament, establishing a comfortable majority. This result went against expectations, as polls predicted a much closer race, with observers claiming that the … Continued
Laura Thornton of the German Marshall Fund considers how democracies can modify their approaches to promoting and protecting democracy in the wake of Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The war itself is about democracy, and autocrats are increasingly forging alliances and threaten democracy through the use of a “nonkinetic toolbox” of techniques such as malign … Continued
Jeanne Bourgault and Jason Lambert of Internews write about the challenges for independent media and how data-based strategies can help independent outlets to thrive, with a US-led initiative called the Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) that was announced at the Summit. The past two decades has seen traditional media disrupted, scores of outlets closed, and increasingly … Continued
Richard Youngs considers the changing possibilities for EU membership for the newly-dubbed Association Trio, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The war has placed their membership firmly back on the agenda of the EU, though any decision over future enlargement will require substantial considerations, and the three countries themselves recognise that there is still work to be … Continued
The Economist considers how Russia’s unjustified war in Ukraine changes the international dynamics for democracy support and fighting against authoritarianism. During the Cold War, the United States and other democracies made deals with undemocratic regimes that are looked back on unfavourably, with the current situation necessitating similarly difficult choices. The article considers possibilities for cooperation … Continued
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