The Kremlin may have discovered the perfect election strategy: eliminate the possibility of losing. Why bother with opposition or the unpredictability of a free vote when you can simply remove the competition? Russia’s...
When a commander in the Syrian army’s 52nd Division died in March, a Syrian Telegram channel announced the news in the language of an ordinary obituary: Nader Mutlaq, better known as Abu Hatem...
Briefing delivered to the Counter-Kleptocracy Caucus
To solidify her position ahead of her succession, Co-President Rosario Murillo has intensified persecution of the regime’s favorite scapegoat.
An arresting image from the last century should haunt us in this one. In November 1940, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrived in Berlin to deepen Moscow’s pact with Nazi Germany, supposedly...
The latest reshuffle of Iran’s government looks less like renewal than a game of musical chairs among regime veterans. Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose status and capacity to...
In China, faith in Christ as the only way to heaven is considered “cultist” theology by the government. In Russia, Christians must seek state approval to proselytize and are often...
Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” and Stephen King’s “It.” These are just a few victims of book purges happening all over Russia. Every...
The OSCE’s recent decision to hold its 2027 meeting in Belgrade will reward Serbia for its democratic backsliding and pro-authoritarian foreign policy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no stranger to the machinery of repression. He has throttled internet providers, monitored political opponents, and folded once-independent media into a loyalist...
Outside Syria’s parliament building in Damascus, lawmakers filed past the stone façade for the chamber’s first session since Bashar al-Assad’s fall. Inside, the freshly minted lawmakers stood to...
When autocrats seek legitimacy, they often travel in pairs. Such was the case when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Tbilisi in June. While this was the first visit by a Serbian...
A year and a half after the overthrow of former dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s new parliament is finally taking shape. On July 1, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa appointed 70 lawmakers,...
An EU report has leveled the most scathing criticism of Turkey’s government in recent memory, recommending sanctions against a number of Turkish officials. They include Turkish Minister of Justice...
A court ruling targeting the CHP shows how Turkey's institutions now serve power rather than democratic change.
Now seeking a fourth term in office, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is moving quickly to disarm the Republican People’s Party (CHP).