Anna Grzymała-Busse is the Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies at Stanford University. She is also the Director of the Europe Center and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute. Her latest book is Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State. Become a Patron! Make a one-time... Continue Reading →
By Erica Frantz and Andrea Kendall-Taylor A Bad Year for Strongmen Looking back, 2022 was a bad year for strongmen. Take Russia, where Vladimir Putin’s poor judgement led to a war that has not only devasted Ukraine, but left Russia seriously weakened and Putin’s own hold on power more tenuous. In China, as well, widespread... Continue Reading →
By Barry Burden A Judicial Election In the cold days of winter, a perfect storm has formed in Wisconsin politics. The storm is turning what would be a humdrum nonpartisan judicial election into an intense ideological showdown that may well shape state policies for years to come. The chair of the state’s Democratic Party described... Continue Reading →
By Giorgos Venizelos Cyprus 2023 Elections On Sunday February 5th, 2023 Cyprus is heading to elections to choose its 8th president in the 13th electoral contest since the institution of the Republic in 1960. Cyprus is a presidential democracy, meaning that the president is elected directly from the people upon receiving 50% plus one vote.... Continue Reading →
By Xian Huang China’s New COVID-19 Policy The COVID-19 pandemic hit China first. However, from March 2020 to mid-2022, China contained the widespread transmission of COVID-19 and managed to handle this unprecedented public health crisis by the “zero-covid” strategy, that is, to eliminate the virus by massive lockdowns, testing, contact tracing, and quarantine. By mid-2022,... Continue Reading →
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. He is the author of many books including The End of History and the Last Man, The Origins of Political Order, and most recently, Liberalism and its Discontents. ... Continue Reading →
By Salvador Santino Fulo Regilme Jr. This post was originally written for www.suedostasien.net. The website will publish a German translation in February. Human Rights and US-China Rivalry in Development Cooperation How did post-Cold War US foreign aid shape the advancement of human rights in Southeast Asia, and what specific mechanisms were employed to achieve this impact?... Continue Reading →
By Chris Walsh Originally published in the George W. Bush Presidential Center blog here. Republished with their permission. Democracy: The More Boring, the Better Democracy is an awesome system of governance, but it should be mostly dull in practice. “Democracy doesn’t look like a giant crowd shouting its demands through bullhorns,” The Dispatch’s Jonah Goldberg... Continue Reading →
By Carina Barbosa Gouvêa and Pedro H. Villas Bôas Castelo Branco Toxic Polarization Paralyzes Democracy Toxic polarization is paralyzing our democracy. The "war" declared by far-right aligned politicians on their political enemies is fueling hatred, violence, and diminishing dialogue in democratic systems. These politicians, interested in destroying the adversary, have become "human bots" by immeasurably spreading... Continue Reading →
By John Christianson The Value of Airpower for Modern Militaries The Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022 shocked the world and united western democracies in a way Vladimir Putin has always aimed to undermine. The war has now become a clarion call for the defense of democracy from external threats that has united... Continue Reading →
