
Why Women Are Leading the Fight in Iran
Iran’s women were the Islamic Republic’s first target for repression. This is the newest chapter in their struggle to win back their rights. | Ladan Boroumand
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Iran’s women were the Islamic Republic’s first target for repression. This is the newest chapter in their struggle to win back their rights. | Ladan Boroumand
Our struggle against the Soviet Union offers vital lessons for how to confront the aggressive totalitarian threat that Beijing now represents. | Carl Gershman
By Guoguang Wu | Beijing’s focus has been on strong and steady economic growth for decades. But China’s leader has just put an end to that era. For Xi, it’s only about power—at home and abroad.
His military didn’t just fail. Ordinary Ukrainians, Russians, and people across the globe are creatively and nonviolently protesting Putin’s war on Ukraine, and they are making a difference. | Srdja Popovic and Steve Parks
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t just another land grab. It’s an attempt to recolonize lost empire, and threatens to return us to the age of conquest. | Renée de Nevers and Brian D. Taylor
Online Exclusive by Casey Cagley | Across Latin America, former leaders are keeping a chokehold on their countries’ politics. It’s time their successors break free.
The Kremlin’s order to call up Russians to fight in Ukraine risks massive protests. It’s the riskiest decision of Putin’s rule, and it could lead to his undoing. | By Robert Person
The suffragists imagined that a greater role for women in democratic politics would lead to a more peaceful world. Few realize how right they were. | Joslyn N. Barnhart and Robert F. Trager
For twenty years, the Russian autocrat enjoyed a string of good fortune in coming to power and cementing his rule. He had raised Russia’s standing in the world. Then he invaded Ukraine. | Michael McFaul
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has given the world’s democrats a renewed sense of unity and purpose. Putin’s reckless gamble may unexpectedly strengthen democracy in Europe and beyond. 21 March 2022 By Lucan Way As Russian rockets bombarded Kyiv on the night of Thursday, February 24, the world appeared to be on the cusp of…
There have been numerous waves of protest against the country’s corrupt theocracy. This time is different. It is a movement to reclaim life. Whatever happens, there is no going back. | Asef Bayat
The break between the military and former prime minister Imran Khan marks a new era of instability. Is this the rise of an autocratic deep state or the fall of authoritarian populism? | Ayesha Jalal
China’s totalitarian regime is built on surveillance, censorship, and repression, with harsh penalties for anyone who dares to defy it. Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have ambitions that extend beyond China’s borders. The following Journal of Democracy essays explore how China undermines democracy both at home and abroad. Read for free now.
Artificial Intelligence has become autocrats’ newest tool for surveilling, targeting, and crushing dissent. But this supercharged technology doesn’t need to favor tyrants. Activists must learn how to harness it in the fight for freedom.
Our most-read essays of 2023 covered the state of India’s democracy, Russia’s war on Ukraine, the protests in Iran, and more.
On 19 March 2019, January-issue contributors Ronald J. Deibert and Xiao Qiang discussed new dangers presented by social media and related digital tools with Shanthi Kalathil and Christopher Walker of NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies.
March 19, 2019
They are benefiting from a world that has grown more hostile for democracy and human rights. But it doesn’t need to be the case. Democracies need to double down on their own competitive advantage.
Economic freedom is one of a tyrant’s first targets. My family and I have experienced this firsthand. But tools like Bitcoin offer a lifeline for activists fighting repressive states.