Power 3.0 | Authoritarian Resurgence, Democratic Resilience

The growing trend of “foreign agents" laws have targeted prodemocratic civil society groups and activists around the world. As a result, hostile narratives are established that stigmatize these groups, impeding the inherent rights of freedom to assembly, expression, and speech. These narratives often lead to “foreign agents” laws by authoritarian regimes, ultimately stifling the many benefits that...

With more than fifty national elections taking place during 2024, in countries that comprise more than half the world’s population, it has never been more critical to secure the integrity of the information space—and never more challenging. The Philippines has been reckoning with this challenge since at least its 2016 election, which led some to refer to the country as “Patient Zero” for its early...

In the Balkans, governing elites who benefit from partnerships with democratic states and participation in the E.U. integration process are, in some cases, simultaneously furthering the autocratic agendas of Russia and China to leverage geopolitics to their advantage. Donika Emini, executive director of the CiviKos Platform and former Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, joined John K. Glenn, director...

Globally, democratic activists are confronting novel forms of digital repression pioneered by autocrats who increasingly share software, hardware, and knowledge across borders. Notably, the People’s Republic of China has developed a heavily coercive governance model which it exports internationally through firms such as Huawei and ZTE. In Venezuela, for example, PRC technologies help to underpin t...

Around the world, threats to freedom of expression and association are growing. One crucial example is found in Georgia, a struggling democracy with a population of just under four million people. Last year, the Georgian parliament withdrew proposed legislation targeting so-called “foreign agents” that was strikingly similar to such stifling legislation in Russia. At the time, the draft law stimul...

In recent years, international institutions have become an increasingly critical arena of contestation between autocracies and democracies. China, in particular, has leveraged its participation in those institutions and relationships with autocratic regimes to proffer narratives that support authoritarian models of governance and hide its human rights abuses. Sophie Richardson, visiting scholar at...

February 2024 marks two years since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the midst of this crisis, the world has learned much from Ukrainians about countering authoritarian information operations. The Forum highlighted Ukrainian civil society’s resilience in a 2023 report, “Shielding Democracy: Civil Society Adaptations to Kremlin Disinformation about Ukraine.” Yet, a new a...

Authoritarian influence in multilateral institutions is growing rapidly and poses a serious threat to democratic and human rights principles. Repressive governments have worked to undermine mechanisms that are meant to ensure accountability for human rights abuses and to transform the United Nations, its related bodies, and other international institutions into fora for mutual praise. Both the Chi...

As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become more authoritarian and closed to the world in recent years, its global influence has risen even more rapidly. Civil society and other democratic institutions around the world must grapple with the PRC’s malign influence in many domains, including the information, technology, economic, and political spheres. Key democratic institutions often operat...

In 2016, Mauritius announced the launch of a “safe city” project—a public-security initiative deploying cameras and other advanced digital technologies from the controversial PRC-based vendor Huawei. Shrouded in opacity and set up outside standard oversight mechanisms, the project raises the specter of surveillance and digital control in the country. In this episode of the Power 3.0 podcast, featu...

Angola has long been ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world. Although many hoped the Southern African country would improve its good governance and human rights record when long-time autocrat Jose dos Santos stepped down, deep kleptocratic networks persist. In this episode of the Power 3.0 podcast, featured guest Rafael Marques discusses the state of kleptocracy in Angola, the role o...

Like other autocratic actors, the Kremlin deploys disinformation to confuse the public, attract allies, escape accountability, and strengthen its hold on power. Yet a documented intensification of disinformation operations around the invasion of Ukraine has failed to sway Ukrainians, whose overwhelming support for self-determination has only risen since the full-scale invasion began. In this episo...

Through tools such as facial recognition cameras and social media monitoring software, artificial intelligence (AI) is offering governments new ways to keep tabs on people’s conversations, movements, and activities. Advocates warn that in the absence of clear-cut rules, these new capabilities could erode the rule of law in some settings and deepen authoritarian control in others. In this episode o...

Russia’s war in Ukraine highlighted the transnational impact of kleptocracy in financing and empowering autocratic regimes. Russian oligarchs living abroad were sanctioned and stepped down from the boards of influential Western institutions, and other measures were taken to choke off this transnational, supercharged form of corruption. In this episode of the Power 3.0 podcast, featured guest Jason...

Welcome back to the Power 3.0 podcast! Here at Power 3.0, we explore how new forms of authoritarian influence are reshaping the contest over democratic values. On monthly episodes, we’ll be talking with remarkable guests about their expertise and personal experiences. You’ll hear from civil society activists, journalists, researchers, and other leaders on the frontlines of the fight to defend demo...