Democratic Transitions

From Tunis to Baghdad: Can platform-based politics take root?

By Carrie Schenkel and James Storen

This paper is the fifth in the Freedom and Prosperity Center's "State of the Parties" series analyzing the strength of multi-party systems in different regions of the world.

Ukrainians are proudly democratic but resoundingly reject wartime elections

By Peter Dickinson

Ukraine's fight for democracy has been at the heart of the country's struggle against the past two decades of escalating Russian aggression, but Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject the idea of staging dangerous wartime elections before peace is secured, writes Peter Dickinson.

Georgia’s pro-Kremlin authorities intensify crackdown on opposition

By Mercedes Sapuppo

Georgia's pro-Kremlin authorities presented new legislation in February that critics say will increase pressure on the country’s civil society and independent media while also placing additional restrictions on protests, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

Dispatch from Syria: ‘Syrians cannot focus on their future if they are still drowning in their past’

By Arwa Damon

The pain felt by those searching for clues in the dark void of the former regime’s detention system is palpable, Arwa Damon reports from Syria.

The Global Foresight 2025 survey: Full results

In the fall of 2024 after the outcome of the US presidential election, the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security surveyed the future, asking leading global strategists and foresight practitioners around the world to answer our most burning questions about the biggest drivers of change over the next ten years. Here are the full results.

Three worlds in 2035: Imagining scenarios for how the world could be transformed over the next decade

2024 was marked by increased climate shocks and collaboration of autocratic adversaries. What will the world look like in the next decade? The Atlantic Council’s top experts brought their globe-spanning expertise to the task of forecasting three different scenarios for the future.

The foreign aid freeze poses risks to US interests in Syria

By Diana Rayes 

Postwar Syria faces a precarious economic and security situation and the United States’ assistance—or lack thereof—will play an outsize role in its outcome.

Libya’s de facto partition demands a solution designed for it—not for outside contenders

By Hani Shennib

Libya needs new ideas and a national and international will to reset a realistic path toward a modern state.

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate is unlikely to confront Hezbollah

By David Daoud

Given Lebanon’s dire postwar economic state, Nawaf Salam is highly unlikely to risk escalating internal conflict during his premiership.