If we extrapolate from the current trend lines, democracy will be gone in a couple decades, melted away like the polar ice. But although down, democracy is not out.
Democracy: On the Precipice?
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Brazil
Whose Coups?
Donald Trump says that impeachment is actually a coup. It’s one more example of his attack on the rule of law.
A Very Brazilian Coup
Brazil’s elites can’t win an election, but they can engineer an impeachment.
The BRICS: Challengers to the Global Status Quo
Can the BRICS wrest control of the global economy from the United States and Europe, or will their internal contradictions tear them apart?
Brazil’s World Cup Evictions: An Insult to Soccer
Forced evictions are happening throughout Brazil in advance of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, exacerbating the country’s growing inequality.
The New Nicaragua Canal: China Barges In
A proposed canal in Nicaragua, built by China, is a tangible signal that the United States can’t set the terms of the world economy forever.
Mistaking Omniscience for Omnipotence
No one knows what a major state would be like if it radically cut back its intelligence services–but based on the recent American record, it’s hard to imagine we could be anything but better off.
At the UN, a Latin American Rebellion
Without a doubt, the 68th UN General Assembly will be remembered as a watershed. Nations reached an agreement on control of chemical weapons that could avoid a global war in Syria. The volatile stalemate on the Iran nuclear program came a step closer to diplomacy....
NSA Spying Leaves Washington Lonelier than Ever
As President Barack Obama arrived in Berlin last month to deliver a speech at the Brandenburg gate, many Germans were already expressing concern about revelations of NSA spying. Little did they know that they were viewing the tip of the iceberg and that tensions in...
The Roots of Social Rebellion? Social Movements.
The lesson from the streets of Brazil, Turkey, and the Arab world is to avoid underestimating half-baked social movements still in their infancy. With technological advancements and opportune conjunctures, the underdogs of yesterday can quickly turn into the makers of tomorrow. Not every nascent movement cascades into a full-blown revolution, but the pathfinders whose thoughts and actions carry forward to make history must get their due recognition.