Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
As President Erdogan and the AKP face an electoral challenge in 2023, a new law tightens government control of social media and news websites. Much will depend on how this law is interpreted and enforced.
It would be daring of the Opposition to make public service delivery the leitmotif of its general election campaign in 2024. But one thing is for sure: Until and unless the Opposition forges an affirmative agenda that goes beyond attacking Modi and the BJP, its collective post-election analysis in 2024 will look a lot like 2019.
There have been many more democratic openings since 2011 than is commonly thought. In that time, the EU has accelerated its response to crises and conflicts but has failed to develop financial, diplomatic, and trade mechanisms that grasp democratic opportunities with the same conviction.
Demonstrations were widespread but generally short-lived.
Over the last several years, citizens in Europe have been randomly selected to participate in specific policy debates. But to make an impact, selection-based participation needs to be more integrated into mainstream democratic politics.
One, the socioeconomic agenda may stage a comeback. There is certainly a limit to identity politics, when it does not deliver or when it results in more poverty.
So far, Putin has seen none of his fondest dreams—Ukraine being overwhelmed by Russia, neutral countries distancing themselves from NATO, Eastern Europe becoming less democratic—come to fruition.
From the US to Brazil to India, deepening political polarisation is used as a frame through which to see a lot of 21st-century politics. But what can actually be done to depolarise deeply divided societies, particularly democracies?
Elon Musk claims that he wants to promote free speech on Twitter. But what happens when Egypt or India demands the takedown of certain content critical of their government?
Lula has campaigned on the promise to bring deforestation levels in the Amazon down to zero. The question is whether he can in fact deliver. Brazil has developed an addiction to deforestation. In order to break it, the incoming president will have to muster all the support he can find.