April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Oppositions resisting autocrats or antidemocratic incumbents could once get help internationally. But the space for democracy promotion has narrowed, while oppositions face divisions within their own ranks over how to best fight back.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Georgian society has long aspired to join the West, but the ruling party—led by the country’s richest man—is dragging the country closer to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Georgians are still resisting, but can they halt their country’s authoritarian slide?
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
An opposition party that swept into power with a 2021 electoral win was swept out by voters four years later. It failed to deliver on its promises and was beset by the same authoritarian leanings of those it had replaced.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
The military has long had the final say in Pakistani politics. In response to Imran Khan’s populist surge, the military adapted, making use of selective repression and writing its control more deeply into the country’s institutions.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Over the last half-century, a surprising share of new democracies have put their former dictators, or the children of those dictators, back in power. What explains the electoral success of these “dictocrats” and “dictobrats”?
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
A review of Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, by Volker Ullrich.
Just a month after its introduction, ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, hit 100-million monthly users, making it the fastest-growing application in history. For context, it took the video-streaming service Netflix, now a household name, three-and-a-half years to reach one-million monthly users. But unlike Netflix, the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and its potential for…
nt VPN systems.” Telecom giants such as China Unicom can cut connections when they identify a VPN in use. Some limited internal use of VPNs by companies is permitted, but a usage record is required. Moreover, only specially licensed vendors may supply the necessary systems.10 Enforcement of the restrictions on VPN usage has been tightened…
This is the darkest moment for freedom in half a century. Whether democracy regains its footing will depend on how democratic leaders and citizens respond to emboldened authoritarians and the fissures within their own societies.
Since the internet’s arrival in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1994, digital technologies have provided a critical channel of communication for Chinese citizens. In an environment where speech and access to information are heavily restricted, the internet has enabled citizens to get uncensored news, speak their minds, and even organize protests. Over the…
The Russian system of personalized power is growing ever more dependent on the same strategies that proved useless in sustaining the USSR. While the system still has the potential to limp along, its survival tactics render the it progressively more dysfunctional. Among the circumstances weighing against the system’s survival are the unintended yet logical consequences…
Excerpts from the inaugural address of newly elected Argentine president Mauricio Macri. Excerpts from comments to the media made by the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen upon learning she had won Taiwan's presidential election. Excerpts from a communiqué produced at a February conference of governance experts and former Latin American heads of state, organized by Forum 2000 and the Arias Foundation.
