ADDED 03/08/2018
FROM | The Economist
BY Bagehot
British institutions may not withstand the authoritarian-populist wave. IN HIS dystopian novel of 1935, “It Can’t Happen Here”, Sinclair Lewis described the rise of an American Caesar, Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip. Buzz easily defeats Franklin Roosevelt for the presidency by promising to make America great again. He then sets about destroying the country’s system of checks […]
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ADDED 03/08/2018
FROM 03/08/2018 | Open Democracy
BY Bilge Yabanci
Not a single International Women’s Day or Mother’s Day can pass by without reasserting women’s main duty as child-bearers and men’s responsibility to ‘protect’ and ‘rekindle’ fragile mothers. Last January, shortly after Turkey’s military operation started in Afrin, I was at a women’s event held by a pro-government civil society organisation in a working-class suburban […]
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ADDED 03/06/2018
FROM | Ha'aretz
BY Uri Misgav
The Netanyahu regime is a populist, Peronist right. It’s doubtful it can even be called fascist; fascism is an ideology with core values that can be challenged. How do they look at themselves in the mirror, the new right-wingers? The prime minister is suspected of receiving a million shekels’ worth of “gifts” and of bribery […]
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ADDED 03/05/2018
FROM | The Guardian
BY Gavin Evans
Its defenders claim to be standing up for uncomfortable truths, but race science is still as bogus as ever. One of the strangest ironies of our time is that a body of thoroughly debunked “science” is being revived by people who claim to be defending truth against a rising tide of ignorance. The idea that […]
see sourceADDED 03/05/2018
FROM 02/16/2017 | TEDxPrague
BY Guy Standing
We’d better have nightmares about the future of milions of people who stand on the brim of unsustainable debt. Guy Standing pracuje na School of Oriental and African Studies – SOAS na University of London. Je autorem mnohých knih, z nichž nejznámnější je asi „Prekariát: Nová nebezpečná společenská třída“, která byla přeložena do 16 jazyků. […]
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ADDED 03/05/2018
FROM 02/27/2018 | Jamestown Foundation
BY Paul Goble
Since becoming president of Uzbekistan in September 2016, following the death of longtime authoritarian leader Islam Karimov, Shavkat Mirziyaev has taken steps to dramatically improve relations with his country’s neighbors and to eliminate some of the most noxious and repressive policies of his predecessor at home (see EDM, January 17, 19, February 8). Some of his critics say […]
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ADDED 03/05/2018
FROM 03/05/2018 | Kyiv Post
BY Oleg Sukhov
Welcome back to 2013. The destruction of the protest tent camp in front of the Verkhovna Rada on March 3 was the latest sign that Ukraine is undergoing a counter-revolution, led by President Petro Poroshenko and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. The events of March 3 recalled the era of the authoritarian kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych. Freedom of assembly, […]
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ADDED 03/04/2018
FROM | Middle East Eye
BY Alex MacDonald
Iraqi Communist party leaders hail possibility of end of sectarian and ethnic coalitions in war-ravaged country. It is perhaps the most unlikely of political alliances, even for a country where electoral rules encourage strange bedfellows. As Iraq prepares for its first post-Islamic State elections, the Communists have thrown their lot in with the Shia conservatives […]
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ADDED 03/02/2018
FROM | The Atlantic
BY Rachel Donadio
MILAN—The same day that left-wing groups and parties held an anti-fascist rally in Rome, protesting the apparent rise of the hard-right in Italy, the piazza in front of the Milan cathedral was filled with energized supporters of Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s League party. The party is best known for its xenophobia and its flirtation with […]
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ADDED 02/28/2018
FROM 02/22/2018 | Visegrad Insight
BY GALAN DALL
Political landscapes in Central Europe (CE) seem to be shifting in expected directions, which is somehow still surprising to the public at large This week saw several revelations in CE. Starting with the largest economy of the group, Poland has been struggling for years with their reputation of xenophobic conservatism both within the EU and […]
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ADDED 02/27/2018
FROM 02/26/2018 | Carnegie Europe
BY RICHARD YOUNGS, SARAH MANNEY
This is the first article of the Reshaping European Democracy Project, an initiative of Carnegie’s Democracy and Rule of Law Program and Carnegie Europe. There is widespread agreement that liberal democracy is in fragile health in its European heartlands. Freedom House’s recently published 2018 report, “Democracy in Crisis,” suggests liberal democratic values are now at serious […]
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ADDED 02/27/2018
FROM 02/26/2018 | Aljazeera
BY Creede Newton
Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz suffered a surprise loss in a mayoral race in an election that some viewed as a sign the ruling party could be defeated in April elections. Peter Marki-Zay, an independent candidate endorsed by the majority of Hungary’s opposition parties, handily won Sunday’s election in southern Hodmezovasarhely against Fidesz candidate Zoltan Hegedus, garnering 57 […]
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