Why the Defenders of Liberal Democracy Need to Stand Up

• Ghia Nodia

If liberal norms and institutions are to prevail, they need to be defended from the left and the right.

Why Ukraine Is Critical to Rebuilding Our Democratic Consensus

• Marc F. Plattner

The case for liberal democracy remains powerful. It may get its biggest boost in the near term from success on the battlefields of Ukraine.

What It Takes to Win the New Cold War with China

• Carl Gershman

Our struggle against the Soviet Union offers vital lessons for how to confront the aggressive totalitarian threat that Beijing now represents.

Why the German Far Right Is Beginning to Win

• Michael Bröning

For years, they were a fringe vote. Now they are broadening their agenda, tapping into voter frustration, and getting Germans to favor them once again.

Why He May Soon Be Remembered as “Putin the Weak”

• Michael McFaul

The Russian autocrat wanted to go down in history on par with Russia’s greatest leaders. He is increasingly looking like one of its weakest.

Inside the Fight to Save Israeli Democracy

• Natan Sachs

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the public to see his efforts to overhaul the Israeli judiciary as a “reform.” But people have seen it for what it is: a struggle over the very future of democracy itself.

This Is Not the End of Putin’s Troubles

• Kathryn Stoner

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion has exposed the fundamental instability of Putinism.

Putin Just Learned Why You Don’t Trust Mercenaries

• Zoltan Barany

The Russian autocrat forgot an age-old truth about working with common criminals and soldiers for hire.

Believe Nothing Putin or Prigozhin Tell You

• Andrei Kozyrev

In the days ahead, the West must remain calm—and redouble its support for Ukraine.

Putin’s Formula for Ruling Russia Is Failing

• Robert Person

The Russian autocrat’s system of control has rested on pillars that are beginning to crumble.

Has Liberalism Failed?

• Thomas F. Remington

Our rising levels of inequality have put its ideals in crisis. These are the simple principles that can help bring it back from the edge.

Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown

• Will Freeman

The small Latin American country was a brief democratic bright spot. But it appears to have fallen victim to a clash between populists and anti-populists, without a democrat in sight.

What the Freedom Agenda Can Still Teach Us

• Peter Feaver
• William Inboden

Many derided it as naïve idealism, but the vision undergirding the Freedom Agenda offers lessons for the biggest global tests of our time.

How Thai Activists Outsmarted the Generals

• Srdja Popovic
• Steve Parks

The regime tilted the playing field to its advantage, but it didn’t matter. Thailand’s opposition won with creativity, shrewd tactics, and a strategy that united the people.

Thailand’s Revolutionary Election

• Dan Slater

Thailand’s voters—especially its young people—have sent the country’s junta a message: They want change now. But will the military listen?

Is Erdoğan on His Way Out?

• Philip Balboni

The Turkish president came to power as an antiestablishment everyman. Twenty years later he is an authoritarian leader clinging to power. Will the forces that catapulted him to power be his demise?

Why the French Strike

• Moshik Temkin

Why are the French protesting this time? Emmanuel Macron is imposing deeply unpopular reforms, and it’s one of the only ways left to check an arrogant and tone-deaf president.

Putin’s War of Recolonization

• Renée de Nevers
• Brian D. Taylor

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t just another land grab. It’s an attempt to recolonize lost empire, and threatens to return us to the age of conquest.

How Women Make the World Safe for Democracy

• Joslyn N. Barnhart
• Robert F. Trager

The suffragists imagined that a greater role for women in democratic politics would lead to a more peaceful world. Few realize how right they were.

Why Vladimir Putin’s Luck Ran Out

• Michael McFaul

For twenty years, the Russian autocrat enjoyed a string of good fortune in coming to power and cementing his rule. He had raised Russia’s standing in the world. Then he invaded Ukraine.