Authoritarian Cooperation & Learning
October 22, 2015
China’s “Deep Engagement” with North Korea
Guest post by Stephan Haggard. China and the broader international community share at least one strategic interest concerning North Korea: Beijing has repeatedly emphasized its desire for a denuclearized peninsula. Yet...
READ MOREOctober 20, 2015
Stifling the Public Sphere: Media and Civil Society in Egypt, Russia, and Vietnam
This blog post is based on the introduction to a new report—“Stifling the Public Sphere: Media and Civil Society in Egypt, Russia, and Vietnam”—produced by the International Forum for Democratic...
READ MORESeptember 22, 2015
The “GONGO Show”: Authoritarian Imposters Crowd-Out Civil Society
The closing space for civil society has been well documented, but sometimes modern autocrats find it more convenient to manipulate civic space than to close it. Contemporary authoritarian regimes are...
READ MORESeptember 15, 2015
Under Pressure: Space for Civil Society
September 15 is the United Nations International Day of Democracy. This year’s theme highlighting “Space for Civil Society” raises the profile of human rights defenders and democracy activists at a...
READ MOREJune 9, 2015
In Advance of European Games, Azerbaijan Tames Human Rights Watchdogs
Since inheriting the presidency from his father in 2003, Ilham Aliyev has steadily shrunk the space in Azerbaijan for alternative views. Today, the country is ruled largely through fear. There...
READ MOREJune 4, 2015
Saudi Arabia Tries to Stem the Tide
When the 2011 Arab Awakening toppled long-standing corrupt regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, Saudi Arabia took note. Fearing that this outbreak of political mobilization might prove contagious, Saudi Arabia has...
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