Nobel Literature laureate Mo Yan wasn’t the only Chinese writer to be honored this month, writes Louisa Greve. Two other celebrated authors received international recognition for work that demonstrates a more credible and consistent affirmation of the necessity of truth and integrity – in life as well as literature.  

The controversy over this year’s Nobel Literature honoree Mo Yan, [READ MORE]

The reported killing of a secular Tunisian labor activist by supporters of the ruling Ennahda party has raised political tensions and concerns about the illiberal drift of the country’s transition as the country approaches the anniversary of its first free and fair elections.

Lotfi Naguedh, a union activist and supporter of the secular Nida Touns party was reportedly [READ MORE]

Russia’s expulsion of USAID and Egypt’s prosecution of pro-democracy non-governmental groups are the most publicized cases of a concerted offensive against civil society and, more specifically, against the principles and practice of cross-border democracy assistance. Such actions violate not only international law, but fundamental moral precepts, according to a new report.

“Civil society is at the [READ MORE]

Online freedoms of expression and association deserve to be protected as diligently as offline rights, a leading authority told the World Movement for Democracy’s 7th assembly in Lima this week.

Cyber-activism is coming under a growing threat from authoritarian regimes – and even some democracies, said Maina Kiai, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of [READ MORE]

International sanctions do not appear to be undermining Iran’s ruling elite or creating opportunities for the latent opposition, says a new report from Kenneth Katzman, a specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service.

The international community has hoped that international sanctions might strengthen those in Iran who might argue that Iran’s nuclear program is carrying too high [READ MORE]

The art of political leadership “rests on calculating costs and benefits and exercising judgment when the balance is unclear,” writes Anne-Marie Slaughter (left), a former policy planning director in the U.S. State Department:

No one speaks for the Syrian people in the Oval Office every morning. No one adds up the costs of betraying, yet again, what America claims [READ MORE]

A veteran Russian human rights activist has a sardonic take on the news that the European Union will receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

“First they give [it] to Obama, then to the European Union. Who is next? Maybe the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” said former Soviet dissident Lyudmila [READ MORE]

About half of Chinese people like American ideas about democracy, according to a new Pew Global Attitudes survey that also reveals growing anxiety about corruption and inequality.

The survey shows a dramatic decline in the number of people rejecting American democratic ideas, from 36 percent in 2007 to 29 percent today.

“While the appeal of Western democracy has been enhanced, Chinese people [READ MORE]

Nearly all sides claimed some satisfaction with the 14th Francophonie Summit in Kinshasa, a biennial gathering of leaders associated with the French-speaking world, writes Rudy Massamba.

The host, Congolese president Joseph Kabila, said he was pleased with the outcome of the summit, which produced a resolution addressing the violence in [READ MORE]

Democracy Digest posts will be light for the next week or so as we are blogging – along with activists from around the world – from the World Movement for Democracy’s 7th Assembly in Lima, Peru. You can check out those posts here.

How did Burma go from a military-dominated authoritarian state to a quasi-civilian government so quickly while avoiding a backlash by hard-liners and recruiting oppositionists into legitimating the reforms? This is no doubt one of the questions that will be raised in tomorrow’s session on the role of civil society in Burma’s transition at the World Movement for Democracy’s [READ MORE]

Her name has become synonymous with bravery in the face of intimidation, extremism, and deadly violence.

But before she became an icon of freedom for standing up to the Pakistani Taliban, Malala Yousafzai was a confident young schoolgirl whose anonymous diary offered [READ MORE]

The Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law is recruiting qualified applicants for the 2013 program to be held from July 21-August 9, 2013 on the Stanford campus. Entering its ninth year, the program brings together a group of 25-30 mid-career practitioners from transitioning countries where democracy is [READ MORE]

Is France about to start promoting democracy in sub-Saharan Africa?

“President Francois Hollande looks set to make African leaders sweat at a gathering of French-speaking nations in Democratic Republic of Congo this week, when he attempts to cut murky ties with France’s former colonies,” Reuters reports:

More than 70 French-speaking countries, many [READ MORE]

The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and resurgence of Wahhabi/Salafi groups in the wake of the Arab awakening highlights the urgent need for “a renaissance of Islamic pluralism, tolerance and critical thinking,” according to two leading commentators.

“What we are facing today is even more dangerous than physical acts of terrorism: that [READ MORE]