Politics & Diplomacy

#Don’tExecute: A semi-successful campaign against capital punishment in Iran

By Rebecca Stryer

For the third time in less than two months, Iranians took to Twitter in late August to express their outrage over another death sentence handed out to a protester.

Five predictions for Ukraine’s local elections

By Brian Mefford

Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to vote in local elections that promise to serve as the first major electoral test for President Zelenskyy since he and his party swept to power last year.

Open societies must create a grand strategy framework for data, sensemaking, and trust

By James Schmeling (Guest Author) and David Bray, PhD

Open societies are at a series of crossroads requiring intentional choices for the decade ahead. These choices are forced by new technologies, improvements in data capabilities, and changes in geopolitics globally. While human nature has not changed, the number of people on Earth has changed–up from 1.6 billion people on the planet in 1900, to 2.5 billion in the 1950s, to 7.8 billion in 2020.

The EU’s “grave concern” will not help Belarus

By Franak Viačorka

The Belarus crisis has exposed the EU's foreign policy limitations, but a tougher European Union response could still succeed in bringing Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka to the negotiating table.

State of the Order: Assessing August 2020

The State of the Order breaks down the month's most important events impacting the democratic world order.

Mike Pompeo: ‘The tide has turned’ on global perceptions of Chinese threat

By David A. Wemer

Years of US campaigning against China’s unfair economic practices and aggressive diplomacy, coupled with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, has “awakened” the world to the threat Beijing poses to international security and the global economy, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Five big questions as America votes: South Asia

By South Asia Center

The next US administration will need to confront a slew of regional challenges, including China’s growing political and economic clout; a resurgence of majoritarian politics; strained India-US relations; the impending Afghanistan peace process; and post-COVID-19 reconstruction.