Belarus Uprising: The Making of a Revolution
Well-organized demonstrations are rocking the 26-year-old dictatorship of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Inside the movement and why it rose when it did.
October 2020
Volume 31, Issue 4
Belarus Uprising
Belarus Uprising: How a Dictator Became Vulnerable
In a country where opposition forces were long marginalized and dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka faced little serious threat to his rule, Belarus’s 2020 antirevolutionary protest movement has changed the game.
The Authoritarian Assault on Knowledge
Universities, publishers, and other knowledge-sector institutions face increasingly sophisticated authoritarian efforts to quash critics and subvert independent inquiry.
How Authoritarians Use International Law
Through greater savvy engagement with international law, authoritarians are seeking not only to shield themselves from criticism, but to reshape global norms in their favor.
China’s Message Machine
The People’s Republic of China uses massive amounts of propaganda to influence how it is perceived beyond its borders. “Big data” reveal how that image is carefully and deliberately shaped for different audiences in different places.
Covid vs. Democracy
Covid vs. Democracy: Introduction
The Editors’ introduction to “Covid vs. Democracy.”
Covid vs. Democracy: Brazil’s Populist Playbook
By highlighting the deficiencies of authoritarian-populist president Jair Bolsonaro’s rule, the covid-19 pandemic is likely to leave Brazil’s democracy intact but even more brittle.
Covid vs. Democracy: India’s Illiberal Remedy
India’s covid-19 response has accelerated the country’s slide toward competitive authoritarian rule by centralizing decision making, undermining federalism, and providing new pretexts for stifling dissent.
Covid vs. Democracy: South Africa’s Lockdown Misfire
South Africa’s government sought to heed expert advice with its covid lockdown, yet shortcomings in state capacity fatally undermined both the virus response and efforts to address its devastating economic toll.
Crackdown: Hong Kong Faces Tiananmen 2.0
Liberty flourished in Hong Kong, but the Chinese Communist Party has crushed it. Beijing wants “capitalism without freedom” in the city, but can there be one without the other?
The Bangladesh Paradox
Despite impressive achievements in socioeconomic development, Bangladesh has struggled with establishing democracy and is now effectively under one-party rule.
The Return of the Latin American Military?
When asked by presidents to intervene domestically for crime-fighting or civil-order purposes, Latin American militaries face a number of risks and have a degree of freedom to tailor their responses accordingly.
Policing the Police: U.S. and European Models
Hyperlocalized U.S. policing both upholds and corrodes democratic principles. Although some aspects of Europe’s model are nonstarters in the United States, Americans crave centralized enforcement of rules against abusive policing.
Revealing China’s “Hidden Hand”
A review of Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party Is Reshaping the World, by Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg.
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Burundi, Guyana, Mali, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Vanuatu.
Documents on Democracy
Text of “A Call to Defend Democracy,” initiated by International IDEA and the National Endowment for Democracy; televised statement by Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya; open letter on the imprisonment of Turkish civil society leader Osman Kavala.