January 2024, Volume 35, Issue 1
Portrait of an iPhone Statesman
A review of The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky, by Simon Shuster.
Subject: Armed conflicts
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Ukraine and Russia: War and Political Regimes
Will Russia’s war tip the Kremlin even further toward tyranny while fortifying Ukraine’s democracy? That will depend on Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as much as on the course of the war itself.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
Putin’s Inevitable Invasion
Why did Russia invade Ukraine? And why are Russian forces fighting so poorly? The internal logic of its personalist dictatorship is to blame.
July 2022, Volume 33, Issue 3
How Putin’s War in Ukraine Has Ruined Russia
The first two months of the war alone turned the Russian clock back decades, undoing thirty years of post-Soviet economic gains and reducing the country to an international pariah state.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
What Putin Fears Most
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2020: Democracy in a Year of Crisis
The year 2020 saw the global weakening of democratic norms reinforced by authoritarian influence campaigns, crackdowns on protest movements, and the use and abuse of new powers adopted in the name of responding to the covid-19 pandemic.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Russia’s Ukraine Obsession
Lacking any ideas for shoring up Russian society, Putin has settled on picking a fight with Ukraine.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Free Speech in a Time of War
Within Ukraine, Russia’s 2014 invasion has generated unprecedented pressures to impose restrictions on speech. While international norms allow some censorship during wartime, some of Ukraine’s new media and cultural policies raise risks not only for its democracy, but for its security as well.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Sri Lanka’s Postwar Descent
With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in a 26-year civil war, Sri Lanka had a chance for genuine reconciliation, but that chance is being squandered by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Escaping the Development Impasse
A review of Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Georgia’s Year of Turmoil
A domestic political crisis began brewing in Georgia long before the current conflict with Russia. Since the Rose Revolution, the country has been troubled by flawed elections, a “superpresidency,” and a malleable constitution.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
The Debacle in Côte d’Ivoire
Despite hopes that 2005 would see an end to hostilities between rebels and government forces, neither disarmament nor elections took place. How did this once-prosperous country end up on the verge of anarchy and disaster?
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The Cracked Foundations of the Right to Secede
The claim that ethnic minorities have a moral and legal right to secede from states is a dangerous fiction with perilous implications for divided societies.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
High Anxiety in the Andes: Colombia’s Perpetual Quest for Peace
Despite recent progress in the government’s negotiations with rebel groups, Colombia’s problems remain acute: continued violence, growing human rights abuses, severe income inequality, and a depressed economy.
April 1998, Volume 9, Issue 2
African Ambiguities: Africa, 1990–1997—From Abertura to Closure
Read the full essay here.
January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
Where is Russia Headed? An Uncertain Prognosis
Read the full essay here.
Hope and Fear in Syria
The brutal regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad fell in a week. Syrians have been preparing for this moment for years.
Why Burma’s Democratic Forces Are Winning
Burma’s democratic resistance has made impressive gains against the country’s corrupt junta. But they need help from the world’s democracies if they are to succeed and create an enduring peace.
What Burkina Faso’s Tragic History Teaches Us
Ten years after the revolution, the lessons for protecting a budding democracy and guarding against violent extremism are clear.
Why Ukraine Is Starting to Lose
Putin doesn’t care how many of his troops die. He is looking to win a war of attrition. On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine needs the West’s help—and it needs it now.
Putin’s War of Recolonization
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t just another land grab. It’s an attempt to recolonize lost empire, and threatens to return us to the age of conquest.
Why Vladimir Putin’s Luck Ran Out
For twenty years, the Russian autocrat enjoyed a string of good fortune in coming to power and cementing his rule. He had raised Russia’s standing in the world. Then he invaded Ukraine.
How the World Stands Up to Putin
His military didn’t just fail. Ordinary Ukrainians, Russians, and people across the globe are creatively and nonviolently protesting Putin’s war on Ukraine, and they are making a difference.
What Mattered to You in 2022
In 2022, we began publishing shorter, exclusively online pieces. No topic mattered more to you than Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine. We also published essays from the sharpest minds on protests in China and Iran, instability in Pakistan, and more.
Why Ukraine’s Millions of Displaced People Will Define Its Future
Most are Russian speakers from the east, and once harbored sympathies for Moscow. If the country embraces them, they could form the bedrock of a free and open Ukrainian society.
Putin’s Big Gamble
The Kremlin’s order to call up Russians to fight in Ukraine risks massive protests. It’s the riskiest decision of Putin’s rule, and it could lead to his undoing.
Why Ukraine Will Win
The country’s military is advancing on the battlefield. If Ukraine defeats Russia’s massive army, the ripple effects will be felt across the globe.
Drowning Democracy
Afghanistan taught us that a firehose of unaccountable aid can destroy a country’s democratic future. In Ukraine, we are making the same mistake all over again.
Why Putin Must Be Defeated
The more determined democracies are to avoid war, the greater the risk that autocracies will wage it.
How Putin’s War in Ukraine Has Ruined Russia
In a matter of weeks, the Russian autocrat has erased his country’s prosperity in a feckless attempt to rebuild a doomed empire.
Putin’s Incredible Shrinking Victory Parade
How does a Russian autocrat celebrate Victory Day while losing a war? Expect lies, myths, and propaganda.
Defeating Putin in Ukraine Is Vital to the Future of Democracy
Why we must tackle the threat posed by Putin and his authoritarianism head on.
Will Putin Outlast the War?
Russia’s autocrat may be weakened, but his grip on power is greater than many people realize.
Why Putin’s Days Are Numbered
The system that Russia’s autocrat built wasn’t designed to survive the pressures it is now facing.
Ukraine’s Information Warriors
Russian rockets are targeting Ukrainian journalists’ ability to report the news, but the country’s media is finding new ways to stay on the air.
Dangerous Diplomacy: Why Placating Putin Now Could Doom Ukrainian Democracy Later
If the West forces Kyiv to accept Putin’s diplomatic terms, he will have succeeded without firing a shot.