Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, December 5, 2016
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Sir Geoffrey Nice and Francis Wade warn that the escalating mistreatment of Burma’s Rohingya minority under Aung Sann Suu Kyi’s government raises the spectre of genocide.
Hunter Marston argues that it will take generations to resolve Burma’s numerous ethnic conflicts.
Tom O’Bryan laments the international community’s failure to shore up democracy in the DRC.
Tarek Megerisi explains why the capture of an Islamic State bastion in Libya may, in the end, mean little.
And now for this week’s recommended reads:
Italian voters have rejected a set of proposed constitutional changes, ending the prime ministership of Matteo Renzi and notching another win for European anti-establishment movements. In The Conversation, James Newell explains what the country’s populist Five Star Movement is all about. CNN’s Sheena McKenzie profiles Beppe Grillo, the movement’s leader.
The Economist reports on the defeat of Norbert Hofer, far-right candidate for the presidency of Austria.
Foreign Policy’s Robbie Gramer reports on the stunning electoral defeat of authoritarian Gambian president Yahya Jammeh. Earlier this year, Jeffrey Smith tallied the costs of Jammeh’s ruthless dictatorship.
In the New York Review of Books, Christian Caryl considers the possibility that an independent Kurdistan may finally become a reality.
In the New York Times, Amanda Taub reports on disturbing new research that suggests that the Western liberal democracies may be “deconsolidating” — that is, they may be in trouble. In the Washington Post, Jeff Guo questions the soundness of these findings.
The AP’s Maggie Michael reports on a new Egyptian law that enables security agencies to crack down on independent NGOs and human rights groups.
Photo credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
