Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, December 21, 2015
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Berivan Orucoglu, a Turkish journalist, explains why this is the worst time to be a Turkish journalist.
Farah Samti reports from Tunisia about the jailing of six students for being gay.
Richard Youngs argues that the rise of social conservatism around the world need not be a problem for democracy.
Jack Watling and Paul Raymond show how a “jihadist insurgency” in Mali isn’t what it seems.
Christian Caryl explains what nationalism is really for — and how it can be a force for good.
Melinda Haring implores Washington to take a smarter approach to democracy promotion.
Megan Alpert interprets Rafael Correa’s rigging of the political system in Ecuador as a ploy to secure his own power.
And now for this week’s recommended reads:
For Politico Europe, Oliver Carroll interviews Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky on his rivalry with President Petro Poroshenko.
In a report for the Project on Middle East Democracy, Amy Hawthorne chronicles the frustration and economic malaise still endemic in some of Tunisia’s most impoverished regions, five years since the revolution. And in the Guardian, a six-minute video tells the story of Hosni Kalaya, a Tunisian who set himself on fire to launch the revolution — and who now regrets everything.
Writing for Foreign Affairs, Abraham F. Lowenthal and Sergio Bitar draw lessons from successful democratic transitions around the world.
Reuters’ Clement Uwiringiyimana reports on last week’s referendum in Rwanda, in which 98 percent of participants voted to allow President Kagame to seek re-election if he wishes.
In the Wall Street Journal, Michele Dunne and Nik Nevin argue that today’s Egypt looks a lot like it did during the final months of Hosni Mubarak’s rule in 2010.
The Economist worries about the erosion of South Africa’s democratic institutions by an increasingly power-hungry President Zuma.
In Quartz, Ana Campoy sums up the good news about the agreement recently signed by the Colombian government and FARC guerillas, which arranges for restitution to the conflict’s victims.
In the photo, Rwandan voters leave after casting their ballots at a polling station in Kigali on December 18, 2015 in a referendum to amend the constitution allowing President Paul Kagame to rule until 2034.
Photo credit: CYRIL NDEGEYA/AFP/Getty Images
