April 2021

Volume 32, Issue 2

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China: Totalitarianism’s Long Shadow

China’s fast economic rise has not dented its dictatorship, but Xi Jinping’s neo-Stalinist strategy has unleashed new challenges and tensions for the Communist Party’s long-term prospects for survival.

Burma: The Generals Strike Back

The military could not bear Aung San Suu Kyi’s enduring popularity and her party’s continued success at the polls. But the generals may have miscalculated how much the people detest them.

Tanzania: The Authoritarian Landslide

With brutal resolve, the ruling party sought not merely to win an election, but to annihilate the opposition. Now, with President John Magufuli gone, that strategic rationale will likely only grow stronger.

Why Freedom Defeats Terrorism

Far from being a vulnerability in the struggle against terrorism, democratic freedoms are key to empowering moderate voices and depriving terrorists of popular support.

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Why the Future Is Democratic

The swelling pessimism about democracy’s future is unwarranted. Values focused on human freedom are spreading throughout the world, and suggest that the future of self-government is actually quite bright.

Election Watch

Reports on elections in the Central African Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Uganda.

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Russian political activist Alexi Navalny’s final appeal of politically motivated defamation charges; Burmese permanent representative to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun’s denunciation of the coup; lyrics of the prodemocracy Cuban rap “Patria y Vida”; an interview with Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine; statement of the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo.