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Why Ukraine Is Critical to Rebuilding Our Democratic Consensus

• Marc F. Plattner

The case for liberal democracy remains powerful. It may get its biggest boost in the near term from success on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Why This Election Is India’s Most Important

• Šumit Ganguly

Voters are choosing more than the parties and politicians who will represent them. It is something more basic: The future of India’s secular democracy is on the ballot.

Why Did Argentina Just Elect a Radical Right-Wing Political Outsider?

• Virginia Oliveros
• Emilia Simison

By choosing Javier Milei, Argentinian voters didn’t just reject the status quo. They have sent their country hurtling in an unknown direction.

Why Germany’s Far Right Is Winning Big

• Michael Bröning

The far-right Alternative for Germany is no longer a mere protest party. It’s tapping into widespread discontent and is surprisingly popular with young voters. Even more, it is reshaping the political future of Germany.

Why Romania Just Canceled Its Presidential Election

• Veronica Anghel

The Romanian government is trying to guard against Russian election interference. But such a drastic, unexpected, and last-minute move risks undermining people’s faith in democracy.

External Influence and Democratization: The Revenge of Geopolitics

Why Putin Must Be Defeated

• Andrei Kozyrev

The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.

Who Is the Real Javier Milei?

• Daniel Torres Checa

He is rude, foul-mouthed, and one of the most popular politicians in the world. Like it or not, Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding president is the new face of populism.

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Authoritarianism Goes Global: Countering Democratic Norms

Europe and Azerbaijan: The End of Shame

Why Taiwan’s Voters Defied Beijing—Again

• Raymond Kuo

Taiwan’s voters rewarded the ruling party with an unprecedented third consecutive term, despite the mainland’s attempts to intimidate. Expect Beijing to find new ways to threaten the democracy off its coast.

The Son Also Rises

• Richard Javad Heydarian

Many feared Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s election would spell the end of Philippine democracy. But the dictator’s son has surprised nearly everyone, playing the role of a reformer while moving fast to sideline his populist rivals.

How Guatemalans Are Defending Their Democracy

• Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez
• Laura Gamboa

They are organized, nonviolent, and they have come out in great numbers. Guatemalans may also be writing the script on how to defeat democracy’s enemies.

Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown

• Will Freeman

The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.

Is Erdoğan on His Way Out?

• Philip Balboni

The Turkish president came to power as an antiestablishment everyman. Twenty years later he is an authoritarian leader clinging to power. Will the forces that catapulted him to power be his demise?

Why the French Strike

• Moshik Temkin

Why are the French protesting this time? Emmanuel Macron is imposing deeply unpopular reforms, and it’s one of the only ways left to check an arrogant and tone-deaf president.