Volume 37, Issue 2
Ukrainian strength against Russian aggression; an agreement on the path to democracy in Cuba; testimony on behalf of Iranians against the Islamic Republic; and why gender apartheid should be recognized as a crime to protect the women of Afghanistan.
Artificial intelligence is often seen as a silver bullet for authoritarians, a breakthrough technology making repression cheaper, faster, and more precise. But it has inherent weaknesses, and dictators can’t escape these dilemmas.
The world’s “middle powers” were once bastions of defense for a liberal rules-based international order. But no more. A new kind of authoritarian middle power has emerged, undermining democratic norms and safeguards.
Democracy’s present difficulties were predictable. History and older theories of democratic stability should have prepared us for both democratic backsliding and the vulnerability of Western democracy we are experiencing today.
Today, the principal challenge to democracy is coming not from coups but from democratic erosion driven by elected leaders. What is behind this shift, and how can prodemocracy forces push back?
The judiciary is widely assumed to defend democracy. Yet in reality, even when independent of elected governments, courts can endanger democracy—sometimes by enabling executives and sometimes by aggressively fighting them.
Populism is too often treated as if it is all one thing. But what if populist politics and democratic backsliding didn’t have to go together? A closer look reveals two kinds of populism, one of which is less threatening to liberal democracy.
Venezuela has a path to democracy, but it requires dismantling the old regime. María Corina Machado, the country’s true democratic leader, must signal her credibility as a moderate through a framework of transitional justice. It won’t be perfect justice, but it is Venezuela’s best hope.
Decentralized governance allows communities to enact policies that reflect their values. But in the digital age, when news spreads far and fast, what’s happening in one place may inflame citizens’ attitudes thousands of miles away, magnifying political differences and division.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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”?
A review of Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, by Volker Ullrich.
