Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Authoritarian states have not been immune to the global surge of antigovernment protests. Many autocrats have faced significant challenges from the street in recent years, especially from diffuse, leaderless protest movements of the type that have confronted numerous democracies.
In Latin America, the coronavirus pandemic has raised the already high temperature of divisive politics. In Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, managing polarization will be key to preserving democracy.
Facebook’s Oversight Board—an independent group of experts set up by the social media giant—is reviewing whether to continue to ban former U.S. president Donald Trump from the platform. What it decides to do may have a lasting impact on American democracy.
President Joe Biden says he wants to renew America’s democratic alliances. His administration writes about fighting kleptocracy and climate change, conquering inequality, and standing up for human rights.
Middle-power democracies should not tread water while waiting for the United States to address its own democratic crisis. They must help revamp global democracy support using their comparative strengths.
Many West African political elites send their children to boarding schools and universities abroad, especially in the UK. Yet some appear to be using unexplained wealth to pay for it, creating thorny anticorruption challenges for educators, policymakers, and law enforcement.
Some European governments have curtailed core democratic freedoms, at times going beyond necessary pandemic precautions. But civil society is holding these restrictions in check.
Democracy in the United States was ailing long before the arrival of COVID-19, but the pandemic was an opportunity for U.S. leaders to demonstrate unity, strengthen institutions, and model competent governance in response to an existential public health threat.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict interrupted Armenia’s reform movement and restricted civil liberties. To prevent the fragile transition from unraveling further, the EU should step up its engagement and democracy support along three priorities.
President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed “Summit for Democracy” is a vital opportunity to reimagine American engagement on democracy issues at home and abroad.