Syria After Assad—One Year On
On 8 December 2024, a coalition of Islamic militants toppled the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose family had ruled the country for more than half a century.
Syria After Assad—One Year On
Why Tanzania Will Never Be the Same
Tanzania’s Independence Day was Tuesday, barely a month since the shocking and brutal crackdown on thousands of protesters decrying the country’s sham election.
Tanzania Will Never Be the Same
Tanzania’s October election was a sham. When people rose up in protest, the regime responded with a brutal crackdown. That reign of terror marks a turning point for the country, and there is no going back.
Why Honduras Is Facing Election Chaos
Days after the election and no one knows who the next president will be. Even worse, none of the likely winners offer much hope for the country’s democracy.
How Venezuela Actually Becomes a Democracy
The South American country may be on the verge of real change. But it isn’t going to descend into civil-war chaos like Libya. It will be difficult, imperfect, and far better than what Venezuelans have had to endure.
Why the War on Crime Threatens Democracy
Last month Rio’s police conducted the deadliest police operation in Brazil’s history, killing 117 people. It is one episode in a long history of state violence. Not only are such iron-fisted methods ineffective, they pose a danger for democracy itself.
Why Democracy Needs to Go Digital
Faith in democracy is fading, as citizens increasingly find self-rule slow, tired, and opaque. It’s time for democratic institutions to lean into the tech revolution. Digital governance isn’t a gadget; it’s democracy’s lifeline.
Autocrats’ Favorite Trick? Stolen Elections
Autocrats around the world have been innovating new ways to steal elections, manipulating rules and revising laws to keep themselves in power for as long as possible.
Will Maduro’s Autocratic Allies Desert Him?
Nicolás Maduro’s regime has long relied on support from China, Cuba, Russia, and other authoritarians to stay afloat. But now that the United States is stepping up the pressure, will his fellow autocrats leave him high and dry?
Why Democracy Survives Populism, the Dangers of AI, Sharp Power in the Gulf, and More
Why are would-be strongmen so unlikely to succeed in undoing democracy? What steps can we take to protect democracies from advanced AI? Should we be worried about the Gulf states’ growing influence?
Cameroon’s Election Casts a Long Shadow
Cameroonians just reelected the 92-year-old Paul Biya in an election that voters rightly view with suspicion. The tensions under the surface don’t bode well for the country or its people.
Why Democracies Bounce Back
With democracy in trouble across the globe, it’s easy to forget how and why a steady succession of dictatorships fell in the last half of the twentieth century. Democracy’s strengths, and its record, should give cause for hope at a moment when autocracy appears ascendent.
Cuba Wants You to Think It’s the Victim
Last week, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution condemning the United States’ “commercial and financial embargo” against Cuba. The outcome came as no surprise.
Has Tanzania Reached Its Breaking Point?
President Hassan promised Tanzanians freedom, transparency, and reform. Instead, she has delivered repression, violence, and arrests as she bars anyone who dares challenge her.
Women Are Leading Venezuela’s Fight for Democracy
When María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, she made sure to emphasize that her accomplishments were not hers alone — they were shared with countless other activists agitating for democracy in Venezuela.
Why Democracy Promotion Is as Vital as Ever
America’s promotion of democracy has always been highly imperfect. But the superiority of democracy—and the ideas that animate it—make it essential to securing America’s future.
The Cuban Embargo Does Not Exist
The Cuban regime has created a narrative of victimhood as a smoke screen for its gross incompetence and corruption. I should know. I once believed it, too.
Women Are Leading Venezuela’s Fight for Democracy
María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize has made her the face of the struggle for democracy in Venezuela. But throughout the opposition, women are the backbone of the fight against Nicolás Maduro’s corrupt authoritarian regime.
October Issue Free for One More Week!
When democracies are clearly outperforming autocracies in so many ways, why the widespread disenchantment with democratic government? Why are democracy and human-rights activists across the globe turning to Bitcoin?
Why Bolivia’s Election Is a Turning Point
In Bolivia’s presidential runoff on Sunday, center-right senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira defeated right-wing former interim president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.