Political reform in Syria is influenced not only by domestic forces but also by regional developments and the policies of Western countries, particularly the United States. At present, those policies are not helping the cause of political reform.
Dmitry Trenin, one of the leading Russian international affairs experts and Deputy Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, comments on the tentative results of the Ukrainian elections in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The nascent Chinese-Russian entente is not news since the relationship has been steadily broadening and deepening for more than a decade. But there is increasing evidence suggesting this relationship is part of a growing global ideological conflict between consolidating democracies and dictatorships.
The Democracy and Rule of Law Project hosted a roundtable discussion with Hisham Kassem about the political developments in Egypt over the last year.
U.S. efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East have several components.
Masha Lipman, of the Carnegie Moscow Center, discussed President Vladimir Putin's strategy to neutralize the public and perpetuate his regime.
Ukraine's revolution of fall and winter 2004 brought lasting social change to the country. However, the country must still manage the Russian relationship and overcome domestic obstacles to economic and political development.
In view of the recent victory by Hamas in Palestine and the electoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, understanding the thinking of Islamist movements is more important than ever. Experts are trying to move beyond stark views of the Islamist challenge as either a democratizing force or an extreme threat to democracy, to present a nuanced view of the position of Islamist parties.
Minxin Pei examines the sustainability of the Chinese Communist Party's strategy of pro-market economic policies under one-party rule. China is trapped in partial economic and political reforms, and because the Communist Party must retain significant economic control to ensure its political survival, gradualism will ultimately fail.
The dramatic series of protests and political events that unfolded in Ukraine in the fall of 2004—the “Orange Revolution”—were seminal both for Ukrainian history and the history of democratization. Revolution in Orange seeks to explain why and how this nationwide protest movement occurred.