On The Frontlines of Democracy
Lecture Series
About
On the Frontlines of Democracy is a public lecture series to analyze the prospects of democracy in the twenty-first century.
Around the world, democracy faces serious challenges, old and new. Can we protect individual rights and the rule of law in an era of popular mistrust, severe partisanship and resurgent nationalism? How can our democracies reduce inequalities of power, wealth and status, defend deep diversity and confront climate change in the new digital age? Can we develop innovative strategies to revitalize civic engagement, empower public institutions and resist autocratic threats? How can we support the expansion of democracy, in an evolving post-western order, without committing the mistakes of the past?
Watch Now
Navalny vs. Putin
Two decades ago, a minor KGB operative named Vladimir Putin captured power in Russia, gradually installing a ‘managed democracy’. Many of its citizens supported his rule, a period of relative economic prosperity, political stability and international recognition, following the chaotic demise of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Yet economic stagnation, systematic corruption and brutal repression defined Putin’s regime over the last decade. Nationalist tropes and imperial nostalgia accompanied more aggressive interventions abroad.
