April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Resurgence: Iran’s Paradoxical Regime
Iran’s authoritarianism is more flexible and more durable than its detractors would hope, yet more fragile and endangered than its defenders claim.
1290 Results
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
Iran’s authoritarianism is more flexible and more durable than its detractors would hope, yet more fragile and endangered than its defenders claim.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
Although elections take place on schedule in Mozambique, they are of dubious quality, and the most recent one was held amid an uneasy peace following renewed outbursts of civil strife. Major new gas and mineral finds promise a shot at greater prosperity, but also hold the threat of a “resource curse.”
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
This troubled corner of Europe has become a test of the ability of outside experts and carefully designed institutions to overcome a legacy of intense ethnocommunal conflict. How are they faring?
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
The share of Ukrainians who endorse democracy as the best form of government has risen fast in short order, standing now at more than three-quarters. New data reveal a surprising explanation behind this remarkable shift.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Excerpts from: Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilve’s speech in Oslo, Norway; Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech; Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's shocking speech in favor of an “illiberal” state; an open letter by senior members of the Communist Party of Vietnam calling for an end to communism; the inaugural address of Colombian…
July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Maria Sarungi Tsehai refuses to be silent; Ekrem İmamoğlu’s letter from prison; a Venezuelan opposition leader’s final message before his arrest; a 19-year-old Russian dissident’s final court statement; Dominican protesters and journalists march for freedom of the press; and the Tiananmen Mothers remember the massacre.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
A review of This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality by Peter Pomerantsev.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Liberia, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Romania, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uruguay.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Excerpts from: a speech by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian; a letter by Bernard-Henri Lévy, Milan Kundera, Salman Rushdie, Elfriede Jelinek, and Orhan Pamuk; tributes to Lyudmila Alexeyeva; and the Parliamentary Call for Global Democratic Renewal.
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Reports on elections in Algeria, Bahamas, Burkina Faso, Chad, Colombia, the Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Hungary, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe.
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
Excerpts from: imprisoned Chinese dissident Wang Dan’s first press conference; the Declaration of Santiago; “Strategic Initiatives of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Fundamentals for a New Beginning”; speeches on “Human Rights and Asian Values” given at the 54th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights; a postelection statement by Martin Lee, leader of the…
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Excerpts from: South African President Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech; Salvadoran president Armando Calderón Sol’s inaugural speech; a presentation speech by Yelena Bonner, the widow of Andrei D. Sakharov.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
A review of China’s Eurasian Century? Political and Strategic Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative by Nadège Rolland.
Russia’s autocrat may be weakened, but his grip on power is greater than many people realize.
While widespread violence or civil war was averted, the consequences for Russia—and Putin—could be grave.
What explains democracy’s declining fortunes — governments’ failure to deliver or institutions’ failure to stop power-hungry leaders? Why Ukraine’s defeat would jeopardize the entire liberal-democratic order. And how Syria must navigate the complexities of transitional justice and sectarian violence now that the hard work of rebuilding has begun.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Iran is in the midst of an ideological crisis. Growing numbers of Iranians are rejecting the religious underpinnings of the Supreme Leader’s rule, and turning their backs on the Islamic Republic. The regime’s only response is harsher repression—a response that will deepen the anger that is bringing everyday Iranians out into the streets.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
Sub-Saharan African governments are clamping down on media freedom. More surprising is how many of their citizens appear to support this attack on the press.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
To say that Indian democracy is backsliding misunderstands the country’s history and the challenges it faces: A certain authoritarianism is embedded in India’s constitution and political structures.
If liberal norms and institutions are to prevail, they need to be defended from the left and the right. | By Ghia Nodia