Power 3.0 | Authoritarian Resurgence, Democratic Resilience International Forum for Democratic Studies

Globally, democratic activists are confronting novel forms of digital repression pioneered by autocrats who increasingly share software, hardware, and knowledge across borders. Notably, the People’s Republic of China has developed a heavily coercive governance model which it exports internationally through firms such as Huawei and ZTE. In Venezuela, for example, PRC technologies help to underpin the invasive “homeland” digital ID system, which is required for citizens to receive public salaries, state benefits, and access to medical care. 



Iria Puyosa (Atlantic Council DFRLab) and Valentin Weber (German Council on Foreign Relations) joined the Forum’s Christopher Walker and Beth Kerley to discuss the emerging threat from autocrats leveraging digital ID and digital information collection to incentivize compliance with regime models of “normal” behavior. Together, they unpack examples of repressive digital governance practices in China and Venezuela and explore steps the democratic community needs to take to stay ahead of digital authoritarians. This podcast was recorded after a joint, private workshop co-organized by the International Forum, Stanford University’s Global Digital Policy Incubator, and the Hoover Institution’s China’s Global Sharp Power Project. 







For further insights on related issues, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence.” You can find additional resources on the Emerging Technologies and Democracy research hub and join the conversation with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. 



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: [Wit Olszewski/Shutterstock]

Around the world, threats to freedom of expression and association are growing. One crucial example is found in Georgia, a struggling democracy with a population of just under four million people. Last year, the Georgian parliament withdrew proposed legislation targeting so-called “foreign agents” that was strikingly similar to such stifling legislation in Russia. At the time, the draft law stimulated widespread demonstrations in Georgia, temporarily pausing the law’s advance. However, on April 3, 2024, the Georgian ruling party reintroduced the widely unpopular law, renewing the struggle and generating fresh mass protests within Georgia and widespread condemnation internationally. 



On March 29, 2024, Tinatin Khidasheli, chairperson of the Tbilisi-based NGO Civic Initiative for Democratic and Euro-Atlantic Choice (Civic IDEA), joined Christopher Walker, vice president for studies and analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy, to discuss laws and narratives that ostensibly combat “foreign influence” but, in practice, have the effect of restricting fundamental freedoms and civic space. They unpack how Georgian society mobilized in 2023 to resist the adoption of the restrictive law and what lessons this holds for those who want to push back against weaponized narratives and restrictive foreign influence laws elsewhere.  







For further insights on related issues, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence.” You can find additional resources on the NED website and join the conversation with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: [k_samurkas/Shutterstock]

In recent years, international institutions have become an increasingly critical arena of contestation between autocracies and democracies. China, in particular, has leveraged its participation in those institutions and relationships with autocratic regimes to proffer narratives that support authoritarian models of governance and hide its human rights abuses.



Sophie Richardson, visiting scholar at Stanford's Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and former China Director at Human Rights Watch, joined John K. Glenn, senior director for the International Forum for Democratic Studies, to discuss how the Communist Party of China, among other authoritarian actors, seeks to undermine human rights bodies within the UN system. Together, they unpack the importance of these institutions for civil society organizations and explored how democracy practitioners can shore up the global human rights system. 







For further insights on modern authoritarian influence, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence,” and the report, “Defending the Global Human Rights System from Authoritarian Assault: How Democracies Can Retake the Initiative,” by Dr. Rana Siu Inboden. You can find additional resources on the NED website and join the conversation with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: [hxdbzxy/Shutterstock]

February 2024 marks two years since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the midst of this crisis, the world has learned much from Ukrainians about countering authoritarian information operations. The Forum highlighted Ukrainian civil society’s resilience in a 2023 report, “Shielding Democracy: Civil Society Adaptations to Kremlin Disinformation about Ukraine.” Yet, a new and more complex threat has emerged to Ukraine’s information environment from Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools. Whether in Ukraine or across many other regions facing these threats, pro-democratic civil society actors have the opportunity to leverage these types of tools to level the playing field against authoritarian actors.



Ksenia Iliuk, co-founder of LetsData in Ukraine, sat down with John Glenn, director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, and Adam Fivenson, Senior Program Officer for Information Space Integrity at the Forum, to discuss the state of Russia’s information operations and the Ukrainian response with a focus on the use of artificial intelligence and cross-sectoral collaboration.







For further insights on modern authoritarian influence, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence.” You can find additional resources on the Forum’s website at the National Endowment for Democracy and join the conversation with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: [Iliuk Nazar/Shutterstock].

Authoritarian influence in multilateral institutions is growing rapidly and poses a serious threat to democratic and human rights principles. Repressive governments have worked to undermine mechanisms that are meant to ensure accountability for human rights abuses and to transform the United Nations, its related bodies, and other international institutions into fora for mutual praise. Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Kremlin are working to subvert human rights norms, peddle favorable narratives, and oppose resolutions examining their poor human rights records. Democratic societies must rally behind the global human rights system and ensure that it remains capable of assisting activists and victims around the world.   



International Forum report author and senior fellow with the Robert S. Strauss Center at The University of Texas at Austin, Rana Siu Inboden, and China Director at Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson, sat down with Christopher Walker, vice president for studies and analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy, for a discussion on this crucial challenge to global democratic integrity. This episode highlights key moments from this conversation. 







This podcast was adapted from a launch event for Dr. Inboden’s excellent report, “Defending the Human Rights System from Authoritarian Assault: How Democracies Can Retake the Initiative,” published by the Forum. To watch the full event, visit the National Endowment for Democracy’s YouTube channel. 



For further insights on modern authoritarian influence, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence.” You can find additional research on the NED website and join the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter. 



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: [Ana Maria Serrano/Getty Images]. 

As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become more authoritarian and closed to the world in recent years, its global influence has risen even more rapidly. Civil society and other democratic institutions around the world must grapple with the PRC’s malign influence in many domains, including the information, technology, economic, and political spheres. Key democratic institutions often operate with significant knowledge deficits regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s opaque political system, Chinese language skills, and the ways in which the PRC’s outward-facing engagement is adapting and evolving. How should democracies fill these crucial knowledge gaps? What role can key diaspora, academic institutions, and civil society organizations play at a global level to shrink such deficits?  



Journal of Democracy author and Professor at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology John Fitzgerald, Hong Kong native and Advisor at Central Asia’s OSCE Academy Niva Yau, and CEO of Taiwan’s Doublethink Lab TtCat discussed how their societies have leveraged expertise on China to address democratic vulnerabilities, and how others might be able to do the same. Christopher Walker, vice president for studies and analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy, and Kevin Sheives, deputy director at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, co-hosted the conversations.







For further insights on modern authoritarian influence, check out the International Forum’s companion blog, “Power 3.0 Understanding Modern Authoritarian Influence.” You can find additional resources on the NED website and join the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter. 



The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: Ran Sinee/Shutterstock.com.