Democracy

Donald Trump’s Republican presidential nomination and the Brexit have shocked and somehow caught by surprise the entire world. A growing sense of concern or even alarm is now spreading across Western countries and is putting traditional democratic processes to the test.

In particular, when looking at the political landscape in Europe, populism may turn out to be an unprecedented game-changer. Populists parties came to power in Poland and Hungary, they are in coalition governments in Switzerland and Finland, top the polls in France and the Netherlands, and their support is at record highs in Sweden. Not to mention the recent rise of Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and the successful story of Syriza, Podemos and of the Five Stars Movement in southern Europe.

This Report explores the rise of populism in Europe and the US by analyzing its root causes, the rationale behind its success, its impact on traditional political parties and, more broadly, on Western democracies. It also draws some policy recommendations to tackle this widespread challenge. 

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Iraq is expected to be one of the fastest growing countries in the world and the country could experience further growth, if Oil & Gas legislation and regulatory reform are approved. Recent years have clearly shown that Iraq’s socio-economic problems can be attributed to the ineffective use of oil revenues and to weak institutions, which have become a constraint to delivering even basic services. This paper shows that Iraq has made limited economic progress and will demonstrate that without sound institutions and social cohesion it is impossible to make significant economic progress. Since oil is the country main drive for economic growth, the paper will discuss the potential of implementing the “National Energy Strategy” to meet domestic energy needs; foster the growth of a diversified national economy; improve the standard of living of Iraqi citizens and create employment. The analysis will also demonstrate that the new energy strategy could make Iraq one of the most powerful economies in the region but that this is highly contingent on its having sound and robust institutions. If this is not achieved, the country could move towards what is commonly referred to as the “Oil Curse”.
Kamal Field Al-Basri and Mudhar Al-Sebahi, Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform, Baghdad, Iraq.

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Tunisian transition escapes conventional patterns because of the particular kind of revolution occurred: the characteristics of the leadership, the actors involved, the relatively peaceful nature and the key role of civil society. In some way, it could be seen more like a peculiar kind of democratic transition than a genuine revolution. In any case, stabilization and democracy are still far to be achieved and the procedural delay could seriously undermine the accountability of the transitional institutions.

Apollinaire Muholongu Malumalu is a Catholic priest, a professor of Political Science at the Catholic University of Graben in Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Managing Director of the School of Electoral Training in Central Africa. He is also the President of the European Centre for Electoral Support based in Brussels. Malumalu was appointed by the DRC Bishops as the Director of Cardinal Martino Pan-African Institute for Social Doctrine of the Church in Kinshasa, founded by the Episcopal Commission Justice and peace.

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In an admirable show of determination, the Egyptian youth through the rebel movement, "Tamarod," mobilized tens of millions of Egyptians to restore their freedom and preserve their national character.

Sub-national identities are politically relevant in many Asian and African countries, irrespective to their political system. The vote tends to be guided by clanic, ethnic, religious or regional identities, and political parties are organized along primordial loyalties. Identity politics is invoked to justify ingrained power relations or, for those groups who are discriminated against and excluded from economic and political power, to further their interests.

Regime change in a target country is one of the more common outcomes of a military intervention. Many states have assumed that they may be able to influence the direction of the regime change to conform to preferred outcomes,  particularly in the direction of democratic shifts.