The Kremlin works hard to indoctrinate Russia’s youth to support Putin’s war in Ukraine. But a strong percentage support an immediate ceasefire and don’t think it’s a cause worth dying for.
Indonesian voters have made Prabowo Subianto, a special-forces commander with a dark past, their next president. Even as voters flocked to the polls, his election is a harbinger of democracy’s decline.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the public to see his efforts to overhaul the Israeli judiciary as a “reform.” But people have seen it for what it is: a struggle over the very future of democracy itself.
The democratic icon’s path to prime minister has been tortuous and long. But is Malaysia’s pluralism slipping away precisely when Anwar is getting his shot to lead the nation?
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.
Putin doesn’t care how many of his troops die. He is looking to win a war of attrition. On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine needs the West’s help—and it needs it now.
The country is at risk of collapsing into a full Russian autocracy, and Georgians understand it as a make-or-break moment. The strength and resolve of the country’s civil society will decide the outcome.
The French president risked it all to hand the far right a stinging loss. But the celebration can’t last long. If the country is to avoid greater political chaos, voters must be encouraged to think about broader coalitions that go beyond a narrow left-right divide.
A few years ago Anura Kumara Dissanayake led a struggling political party with bleak prospects. Now he is Sri Lanka’s newly elected president. The hardest work may still lie ahead.
Georgia’s opposition is facing a pivotal election. But it isn’t enough to win: They need to be prepared to move quickly, mobilize the public, and force the regime to concede.
There is no clear roadmap. But Poland may be setting out on its first steps in stamping out populism and holding accountable those responsible for the worst violations of the rule of law.
Political blunders, distrust of elites, and Donald Tusk’s inability to deliver on his promises helped make an unknown, far-right former bodyguard the country’s next president. Worse, it will be far harder now to safeguard Polish democracy.
Cuba’s dictatorship has kept student movements under its thumb for decades. But the regime’s repressive tactics have inadvertently breathed new life into a new generation of student activists. These young people are willing to fight for the island’s freedom.
We have long assumed democracy and liberalism went hand in hand. But in truth there have always been tensions between them, and the rise of illiberal democracy cannot be ignored.
