India - 2024 National Elections
"Inside the Issues" host Amrit Singh is joined by Markos Kounalakis, visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, who discusses the largest democratic election on Earth taking place in India this week.
‘Navalny’ is a reminder of San Francisco’s outsized human rights role
Castro Street is the world’s most generous stage for the daily live performance of San Francisco free expression. It is where America’s gay rights movement found fertile ground and where people from across the USA can land and find a community that celebrates brave individuals who may elsewhere be oppressed.
For this reason, it was appropriately symbolic that the San Francisco premiere of the documentary “Navalny” was screened at the Castro Theatre as part of the S.F. International Film Festival. The film is about imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and his struggle against the corrupt and criminal regime of Vladimir Putin.
Navalny’s daughter, Dasha, was at the Castro with the film producers to view and discuss the extraordinary and thriller-like documentary. The film follows Navalny’s activities, from his full-throated political opposition to his poisoning, and then, while recovering from the poisoning in Germany, his preparation to return and continue to fight for justice in Putin’s Russia — landing him again in prison. It is now viewable on CNN. Watch it! READ MORE
In Iran and Egypt, the pursuit of happiness is almost criminal
John Lewis was recently laid to rest and as his coffin was being walked out of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, everyone in the pews was asked to dance to Lewis’s favorite Pharrell Williams song, “Happy.” Solemnity mixed with sheer joy that day to span the spectrum of Lewis’s life — from struggle to song.
Congressman Lewis loved this song and it showed. A video of him dancing to the tune went globally viral a few years ago. Around the same time that Lewis’s video was circulating, Iranian citizens were being arrested and jailed for doing the same thing: Dancing freely and joyously to that positively infectious hit song.
Iran, and recently Egypt, has cracked down on the expression of creative personal freedom. These thinly legitimated dictatorships have made it a point to be big-time party poopers.
This time, we need international observers to monitor America’s troubled elections
Authoritarian nations, semi-legitimated dictatorships and dying democracies are regularly subjected to international observers whom they grudgingly allow into their countries to monitor elections. The United States sends teams of former government officials and private-sector volunteers around the world to certify —and sometimes condemn — election practices and results. They bear witness to vote tampering, citizen intimidation, ballot stuffing, polling place irregularities and outright stolen elections. They also often get to watch inspiring people power and real democracy at work.
It’s now America’s turn.
This year, the global democratic community needs to gear up and step in to oversee, monitor and judge the fairness of November’s U.S. presidential election. Germany, Sweden, Japan, India, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Israel, and other nations all need to up their game. They should immediately train and send new volunteers to conduct sweeping election monitoring across America, mostly in tough battleground states. READ MORE
America’s greatest strength puts its weaknesses on display around the world
In 2001, New York and Washington, D.C., were attacked, and the world responded by saying, “We are all Americans.” The greatest ever military coalition formed to come to America’s defense. Nations — including Cuba, Iran, Libya, and North Korea — condemned the terrorist attacks. Countries rallied to express sympathy and send material support.
That was then.
In 2020, the United States is facing an attack by the invisible COVID-19 virus and has a shaky economy in a self-induced coma. And, now, nationwide protests are highlighting racial injustice, with peaceful gatherings to rightly mourn George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.
But during this time of crisis, all of a sudden, the rest of the world no longer identifies with America. In fact, populations across the globe are looking at the United States as a pariah state. George Floyd protests are breaking out in foreign capitals worldwide, emotionally flavored with strong anti-Trump sentiments. Adversarial nations and leaders are gleefully enjoying the momentary comeuppance and trying to rub salt in this nation’s open wounds. READ MORE
A COVID-19 pause on mass protests won’t shield inept or authoritarian leaders forever
Teenagers around the country have a very specific plan for what they will do when they are released from COVID confinement: party!
Around the world, however, the decriminalization and return of mass gatherings likely will lead to something else: demonstrations!
Governments and regimes everywhere are going to face a greater test of their resilience and staying power once masses of people are freed from public-health fears and able to express their dissent. Demonstrators who were a prominent feature in the streets of Hong Kong or on France’s highways have all been forced to curtail their collective protest activities. Instead of gathering in person, they are cowering from pestilence. READ MORE
In Hungary, coronavirus crisis is the perfect time to throw democracy under the bus
In the 1949 film “The Third Man,” set in post-war Vienna, the Austrian capital is a bombed-out city where Orson Welles’ character, Harry Lime, makes a killing on the black market for medical supplies. Lime steals military stocks of penicillin, dilutes the antibiotic and sells it to unsuspecting patients who die from the watered-down drug.
Profiting in desperate times is immoral and unjustifiable.
It is also common.
While most people are conscientious, showing strangers compassion, love and selflessness, craven examples abound of certain individuals profiting from the COVID-19 crisis, and others, by hoarding, price gouging or simply leveraging market forces. The $138 bottle of hand sanitizer is the poster child product of this lockdown moment.
Money motivates the unscrupulous and greedy. Power is the other potent aphrodisiac. In its pursuit, power hungry leaders fan the flames of popular fears and exploit nativist anger.
Money and power are a killer combo.
Across the world, from Ankara to Beijing, Caracas to Moscow, powerful (and newly rich) leaders see the current crisis as a way to build themselves an unassailable permanent political role. Case in point? Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán now rules by decree. READ MORE
China’s news organizations in the United States are really spy agencies
A decade ago, I first saw signs that Chinese news organizations were operating as global spy dens and diplomatic outposts. Last week, America decided not only to call them out for what they do, but to punish them further for this activity within the United States.
It’s about time.
It’s also time to counter China and help American journalism survive.
My 2018 book “Spin Wars & Spy Games: Global Media and Intelligence Gathering” detailed how China’s global news organizations are used to advance its national interests. China — and also Russia — uses its foreign news bureaus as fronts for editors and journalists to work as both witting and unwitting spies. My research over the years shows that these news bureaus’ primary responsibility is to report to their countries’ political leadership in Beijing. READ MORE
Autocrats on the left and right are deserting Trump and embracing China
Venezuela is a bipolar nation in the eyes of the world. More than 50 countries recognize the government of interim President Juan Guaidó. The rest of the world — most significantly Russia and China — continue to support and strengthen the grip of President Nicolás Maduro.
It’s bad enough that the Trump administration has been all bark and no bite, trying to flip the failed Latin American state’s leadership with tough rhetoric and State of the Union ovations. What’s worse is that America under its current leadership has shown that there are neither significant consequences nor consequential actions that can be taken when a foreign country snubs Washington in favor of Moscow or Beijing.
The latest nation to reject President Trump’s foreign policy puffery? The former American colonyand current conflict-ridden country of the Philippines. READ MORE
Democracy is a test. Impeachment may be the final exam.
Democracy is a test. You can’t just wing it and you can’t just skip it. It requires study and it is strongest when everyone participates on test day, which is every day.
That makes democracy hard, too. You can’t rely on others to take the test for you or to look over someone else’s answers to figure out how to add your unique voice and perspective.
Democracy is in retreat globally. Only 5.7 percent of the world lives in a “full democracy,” according to the just-released Democracy Index. American democracy, too, is facing a stress test in the form of impeachment. It’s time for all of us to cram around democracy’s meaning.
There are governments and systems claiming they are democratically legitimate. Some of the worst offenders use democratic tools to say that they are free and open societies. READ MORE
Is President Trump imperious? Definitely. Is he infallible? Absolutely not!
Distinguishing a monarchy from a republic is a civics lesson once taught in school. Our education system dumped civic literacy a while back, so it might be time for a national refresher course. We all need it, especially he of self-proclaimed “great and unmatched wisdom” — Trump the Infallible.
But if ever there were a fallible man — true of me and all men — the current White House occupant certainly qualifies.
Unlike President Trump, I’m usually willing to admit my mistakes, apologize when I’ve wronged someone and try to make up for my screw-ups. Being ready, willing and able to deal with my imperfections is a result of my Sunday school moral training and the ethical lessons I was taught at home.
Trump? Whether it’s deliberately part of his shtick or simply his obtuse nature, Trump has never confronted a problem or a failed policy that wasn’t someone else’s fault and, therefore, undeserving of an apology. He is all offense and no defense. Infallibility means never having to say you’re sorry. READ MORE
Hong Kong protesters teach China a thing or two, but they need their own history lessons, too
Pencils sharpened. Check.
Lunches packed. Check.
Yellow helmets and gas masks. Check.
Students in Hong Kong may be skipping the American trend of hauling bulletproof backpacks to school, but they have prepared themselves for both an education and further police confrontation at the start of the school year. This year’s school gear is meant for struggle and survival.
They have chosen to strike against their classrooms to strengthen the ongoing demand for peace and freedom. Some would argue they are protesting for survival. Adorned in their school uniforms — dress whites with ties — they stand out in contrast to the all-black clothing and black face masks donned by the daily street demonstrators. Umbrellas and tennis rackets are optional attire, used both to shield from water cannons and to volley back tear gas canisters toward the police.
Gearing up for a continuing fight is a necessity. These students — and all Hong Kong protesters — are on their own. Hong Kongers need to plan on self-sufficiency because the world mostly has taken a pass at supporting their fight to preserve their rights and democracy. READ MORE
In a world of populist tyrants, this still was a good week for democracy
Democracy goes through ups and downs, even experiencing recessions like the stock market. This is a particularly tough time for democracies around the world, with some places once judged to have turned the corner on their authoritarian past coming back as bigger, badder, anti-democratic governments. Hungary, Poland, Italy, Russia, the Philippines and several other countries are riding on the edge of populist electoral sentiment.
This week, however, was a particularly good one for people yearning to be free. It was an especially good week for those wanting to keep or to take back their government. Three nations showed us the way: Turkey, Ethiopia and the Czech Republic.
Let’s face it, democracies around the world are getting challenged by dictators and demagogues. My Hoover Institution colleague Larry Diamond’s new book, “Ill Winds,” assesses this abysmal global state of democracy, finding that these ill winds are whipping up “Russian rage, Chinese ambition, and American complacency.” READ MORE
Under Trump’s “sovereignty doctrine,” foreign tyrants have nothing to worry about
Jamal Khashoggi’s horrific murder was a message to journalists, dissidents and regime critics everywhere. You are never safe. Anywhere, anytime.
Khashoggi was guilty of practicing journalism. He mistakenly bet he would be safe traveling to a NATO member nation to take care of personal business. Why? Because nations generally follow both international law and formal diplomatic practices that respect foreign laws and sovereignty.
Increasingly, however, more nations are exporting fear and practicing lethal intimidation with a new form of global vigilantism. They go abroad to get outlaw revenge.
The Khashoggi case is the latest example of exceptional and perverse murderous state-related behavior that targets and takes out perceived opponents living in exile. It’s not just journalists abroad practicing their profession that are singled-out for murder. Turncoats living in other countries are targets, and killing them, too, is a clear warning to future defectors and detractors. READ MORE
Russia’s got the gas and is ready to set fire to our system of democracy
Every morning I wake up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee from my Moscow-manufactured coffeemaker and commute in my Russian car while making hands-free calls on my latest Siberian smartphone.
Just kidding.
Russia makes nothing I own. Nothing I need. Nothing I consume. I don’t watch Russian movies and don’t use Russian software. Look around your own home. How many Russian appliances, food stuffs, or clothes are made in the world’s largest landmass nation? Zilch. Nada. Nothing.
If you’re worried that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is poised to take over the world, rest assured. It is not. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, once called Russia “a gas station masquerading as a country.”
He’s right. Russia today is mostly a great big oil and gas conglomerate. Energy resources make up around 70 percent of Russia’s total exports and more than half its budget revenues.
Russia also has a lot of bombs. Really big bad ones. Weapons of mass destruction. READ MORE