Conceptually, this law presupposes a case where the Runet would need to be disconnected from the rest of the global network infrastructure due to threats to its stable and safe operation on Russian territory. However, many critics claim that this bill strikes a huge blow to Internet freedom in Russia. The capabilities that the Russian government now has could usher in a new era of widespread censorship.
All in Governance Systems
In the United States, like much of the Western world, people are losing faith in Democracy. To many people, Democracy is as they have experienced it. What is absent from our societal conceptions of Democracy — and therefore our faith in it — is Democracy as we haven’t experienced it. Yet to the keen observer, the failures of Western democracies are not inherent to Democracy itself, but rather to our implementations of it.
No one expected Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to step down. The 78-year-old is one of the last Soviet-era political leaders who has remained in power for almost 30 years. Despite resigning from the presidency in March, he will remain the power behind the ‘throne,’ with wide-ranging consequences for the region.
As public and military support continue to mount, Guaidó is preparing to challenge Maduro and has called for a change of power. At Guaidó’s behest, the first public rally for Maduro to resign will take place today, January 23rd, with a massive protest against the Maduro government. The opposition must demonstrate to the Venezuelan people and the international community that they can — and will — bring about a peaceful democratic transition. The time is now, or never.
With all of the talk of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, it’s easy to forget that Russia will hold its own elections just next spring. While the U.S. election excited and divided the nation for well over a year, the upcoming Russian election is leaving much to be desired across the country.
For the last two centuries, the United States’ has developed and adapted to the demands upon it economically and geopolitically. Yet the American system of governance consistently fails to address both age-old and emerging domestic policy concerns such as job replacement from automation & free trade, political redistricting, and congressional paralysis. Rather than the fault of any one President or party, this is the result of systemic failures in the American style of Democracy.