Crackdown in Georgia should be on all our minds Regime’s stifling of opposition spells victory for Russian imperialism — and for China and Iran

Superb column by Ed Lucas on why the world’s democracies should stand up to the slide to dictatorship in the Republic of Georgia. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

From Georgian Dream to Georgian Nightmare As the country slides into full authoritarianism, it is time for the international community to act.

“From Georgian Dream to Georgian Nightmare.” Georgia is moving from hybrid autocracy to kleptocratic dictatorship. Batu Kutelia argues, “there is an urgent need for the United States, UK, and EU to impose all-encompassing political and financial pressure.” www.persuasion.community/p/from-georg...

California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law

This is one of the most important policy changes in California in decades. It shows that Democrats can pivot pragmatically to meet urgent social needs, such as affordable housing. We have to strike a balance between environmental protection and economic justice www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/u...

A powerful piece from two leading democracy experts at Harvard on why that venerated university should not submit to authoritarian bullying. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Undaunted officials smack down bullies Wisconsin governor punctures autocrats’ aura of omnipotence; similar support for the rule of law was delivered by bipartisan judges

open.substack.com/pub/contrari.... Wisconsin Governor Evers has taken a forthright stand in defense of the role of law. Every public and private leader should follow his lead. This is how we push back against creeping authoritarianism.

‘At this point, we are a liberal democracy in decline’. But then danger is that we will cease to be a democracy at all.

National Endowment for Democracy Sues Top Trump Aides Over Funding Freeze The nonprofit has enjoyed bipartisan support since its founding in the Reagan era, but it finds itself under pressure from the Trump administration.

Sad to see that the National Endowment for Democracy, inaugurated on a bipartisan basis by President Ronald Reagan over 40 years ago, now has to sue in federal court to obtain the funds that Congress has appropriated for it. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/u...

It Was an Ambush Today marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.

“ I felt physically sick watching the president of the United States yell at a brave ally, fulminating in the Oval Office as if he were an addled old man shaking his fist at a television.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Manchurian President Whose interest is Donald Trump Serving?

President Donald Trump may not consciously be a Russian agent, but the interest he is serving is not that of the United States. The damage to global freedom, stability, health, and the U.S. national interest is massive and growing. larryjdiamond.substack.com/p/the-manchu...

More disturbing evidence that Musk-DOGE is seeking and gaining access to our “most sensitive personal and financial information.” New Social Security chief was being investigated when Musk team tapped him.

We are already in a constitutional crisis, and it will get much worse. To paraphrase a famous quote, often attributed to Edmund Burke but apparently inaccurately, all that is necessary for authoritarianism to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

The grave and rising danger that the Trump presidency poses to our democracy: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Excellent analysis by Mike McFaul on why Trump's zero-sum coercive diplomacy is making America weak again. China will win this global contest if we don't change course. The Limits of Coercive Power, by @McFaul open.substack.com/pub/michaelmcf…

Democrats should make clear that they will remain absolutely unified: not a single vote to appropriate funds until Congress’s power of the purse is restored and protected and Musk is removed from any govt role or special access.

If the appropriations power isn’t respected, no appropriations.

Imagine how gleeful Communist China, Communist Cuba, Putin, Kim Jong Un, Iran's ayatollahs, & other tyrants are at Trump's moves to shut down USAID, kill NED, trash the UN system, and withdraw from the world. A giant gift to our adversaries and a massive blow to global freedom.

Two of the best people I can think of to tackle this daunting challenge of countering the looming danger of assaults on our democratic norms and institutions.

youtube.com/watch?v=NK9a...
It’s time to think and talk about how #China can become a democracy. Authoritarian regimes are vulnerable to legitimacy crises and there is a big one building there.

Venezuela: Cultivating Democratic Resilience Against Authoritarianism María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan pro-democracy movement, suggests that a strong international response to Venezuelan authoritarianism will help overcome electoral fraud against democ...

It was a great honor to host the leader of Venezuela's democratic opposition, Maria Corina Machado, for a moving virtual presentation at Stanford recently. You can read about her remarks and watch them here: cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/news/venezue...

Memorable and moving conversation with one of the most fearless opponents of Putin’s kleptocratic tyranny.