The United States will provide $150 million to assist Egypt’s democratic transition, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.

“It’s very clear that there’s a great deal of work ahead to ensure an orderly, democratic transition,” she said. “These funds will give us flexibility to respond to Egyptian needs moving forward.”

She announced that Under Secretary of State William Burns [READ MORE]

As Egypt embarks upon its transition process, Tunisia is a little further down the road and its experience offers grounds for both optimism and caution.

“Tunisia will be a test case for the Arab world,” said Mohsen Marzouk (left), the Tunisian head of the Arab Democracy Foundation. “Success [READ MORE]

With the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and the assumption of power by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, it remains unclear whether Egypt has taken the first step towards a democratic transition or witnessed the de facto consolidation of authoritarian rule.

It is “far from assured” that Egypt’s revolution will lead to a genuine pluralist democracy, writes [READ MORE]

The democratic upsurge in Tunisia and Egypt, and the wider unrest across much of the Arab world, has exposed the futility of accommodating the region’s authoritarian regimes, writes Will Marshall (left). Prospects for sustainable democratization will likely hinge on emerging governments’ ability to address the socio-economic malaise that underlies the current turmoil [READ MORE]

Social media provided the tipping point in the dramatic wave of unrest across the Arab world, many observers suggest. The Mubarak regime’s attempt to sabotage communications technologies through a digital Iron Curtain (left) confirms that authoritarian governments are equally aware of liberation technology’s potential.

Several months before the [READ MORE]

Do the current negotiations between Egypt’s vice president and opposition factions signal the start of a democratic transition? Or are watching the latest case of authoritarian adaptation?

Following weekend talks with opposition groups, Vice President Omar Suleiman (left) offered to establish a committee to examine constitutional reforms that level the playing field for presidential elections and impose term limits [READ MORE]

Any efforts to back winners or manipulate the political process during Egypt’s regime change will backfire, with damaging, if not disastrous consequences for the country’s liberal democrats, writes Ellen Lust (left), associate professor of political science at Yale University. Promoting democracy in Egypt must focus on building institutions, not boosting [READ MORE]

Who said that the democratic idea is losing its luster?

The world’s democracies may have grown a little timid in confronting the resurgent autocrats. But the battle of ideas between democracy and authoritarianism is back on, writes Financial Times analyst Gideon Rachman.

With the waning of the Third Wave of democracy, a backlash against free [READ MORE]

Russian police detained dozens of democracy advocates in Moscow and St Petersburg on Monday as they held rallies to demand freedom of assembly.

The demonstrations were the latest in a series organized by the Strategy 31 rights group which has organized rallies on the last day of each [READ MORE]

Think of the historical epicenters of modern revolutions: Paris, St. Petersburg, Tehran …. Sidi Bouzid.

Tunisia can be added to the relatively short list of major revolts that started not in a country’s capital or most important city, but in the provinces. OK, Poland’s anti-communist upsurge started in the shipyards of Gdansk and the catalyst for the GDR’s downfall [READ MORE]