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Tag: Authoritarianism

Why did she go back?

The story of Nadezhda Rossinskaya exposes the sheer variety of experiences surrounding the war in Ukraine. Having set out to help Ukrainians fleeing to Russia from her home in Belgorod, she was eventually arrested by the Russian authorities suspicious of her actions.

March 13, 2024 - Thomas Rowley

“The most boring elections in the history of Azerbaijan”

An interview with journalist Cavid Ağa. Interviewer: Aleksej Tilman.

March 4, 2024 - Aleksej Tilman Cavid Ağa

Why Putin is the product of Russian democracy

As we find ourselves less than two months away from the Russian presidential election, this analysis offers a timely and direct rebuttal that Putin’s downfall will arise from Russia’s democratisation. Instead, Russian democracy enabled Putin’s climb to power in the first place, while his protracted popularity constitutes a core factor that enables his regime to propagate at present.

The impending Russian presidential election, set to take place in a few months’ time in March 2024, constitutes an exceptional opportunity to reveal and discuss the discord in commentary on the current state of affairs in Russian politics. This cacophony in the analysis of Russian politics has emerged following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

February 7, 2024 - George Hajipavli

The power and impotence of “open societies” – a historical reflection on current events

A few years after its greatest triumph – the overcoming of the European divide as a result of the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe – the European idea experienced an ever-deepening erosion: "Europe has run out of a narrative," said Munich political scientist Werner Weidenfeld in 2018. It was the solidarity with Ukraine, which was invaded in February 2022, that was supposed to help the "open societies" get off to a new start. However, the autocratic enemies of these societies are also currently experiencing a process of consolidation.

December 5, 2023 - Leonid Luks

The threat of digital surveillance

Surveillance is nothing new when it comes to authoritarian regimes as it has always been a tool to keep control and maintain order. The rise of digital technologies, however, has made it easier for regimes to monitor and control their populations. But it is not only autocratic governments which have adopted these technologies, adding to the risk of the decline of democracy and freedom.

In July 2021 the international investigative journalist collective known as the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, or OCCRP, revealed that governments around the world – mostly autocratic – were using special highly sophisticated software to spy on journalists, human rights activists, diplomats, politicians and even government officials. The investigation, titled the Pegasus Project, analysed a list of 50,000 phone numbers which was attained by Amnesty International.

February 15, 2023 - Adam Reichardt

From utopia to dystopia

In August 2020 the whole world learned that there are two “Belaruses”. One is the utopian imaginary of “Lukashism” headed by a soft dictator, and the other is a dystopian, oppressive state in which the greatest enemy of power is a society fighting for their rights. From the term "the dictatorship of prosperity", only "dictatorship" remained and "prosperity" was enjoyed only by members of the power elite who show absolute loyalty to the leader.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka's retention of power for 28 years was widely regarded – even considering the standards known from other post-Soviet states – as a phenomenon of its own. There is no place for any deep philosophy in his leadership because the only goal of this politician was to survive at any cost. For the story of Lukashenka is not the tale of a politician of great stature, whose political career is a streak of success translating into an increase in state power and the well-being of citizens.

December 7, 2022 - Justyna Olędzka

How did the war become possible?

The problems facing war-torn Ukraine today are the product of more than unjustified Russian aggression. Indeed, they are emblematic of an international political system mired in problems. If we are to avoid such conflicts in the future, we must implement sweeping changes at both a national and global level.

June 9, 2022 - Valerii Pekar

Russia’s spiral of cynicism

One may be tempted to simply trace the current cynical bent in Russian political culture as an extension of the Soviet past. Yet, while the Soviet experience was essential for nurturing a cynical outlook, the massive social and political transformations of the 1990s largely shaped Russia’s contemporary political culture.

October 5, 2021 - Paul Shields

Towards a monarchical presidency in Russia

When exploring the sources of Putin’s popularity at home it becomes clear that foreign policy has had an impact.

April 17, 2020 - Aram Terzyan

The neoliberal world was made for autocrats

A review of Dictators without Borders: Power and money in Central Asia. By: Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw. Published by: Yale University Press, New Haven, USA, 2017.

October 4, 2017 - Millie Radović

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