Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, August 3, 2012

Patrick Bodenham meets some of Burma’s child soldiers, and examines why the government has failed to follow through on its pledge to end the problem. Christian Caryl explains why the predicament of Burma’s Rohingya is becoming a new global cause célèbre for Muslims.

In an overview of recent papers on transition economics, Peter Passell explores the dynamics behind issues ranging from girls’ schools to clean cooking stoves.

Endy Bayuni reports on the latest campaign by Indonesia’s corruption-fighting agency. Their target this time: The national police force.

Juan Nagel analyzes the challenge posed by voters who still haven’t decided what they think about the candidates in Venezuela’s presidential race.

Mohamed El Dahshan offers a fresh perspective on the Olympics.

And Jackee Batanda covers a Ugandan play that has unexpectedly revealed a deep rift between north and south.

This week’s recommended reads:

A new paper from the International Crisis Group warns that Syria’s civil war may be about to take a turn for the worse.

In a report for the United States Institute of Peace, Ray Salvatore Jennings analyzes the ingredients that enable some revolutions to triumph while others falter.

Sean Goforth, writing for The National Interest, examines the challenges facing Cuba’s piecemeal attempts at economic reform.

Stéphanie Giry explores the complex politics behind the Khmer Rouge Tribunal for The New York Review of Books Blog.

In his article for Al Akhbar, Hüsnü Mahalli analyzes Turkey’s new dialogue with Iraqi Kurdistan in light of increasing instability in northern Syria. (The photo above shows Turkish police clashing with Kurdish demonstrators in eastern Turkey last month.)

At the African Arguments blog, Alula Alex Iyasu wonders whether the deteriorating health of Ethiopia’s prime minister might offer an opportunity for a democratic breakthrough.

In the wake of Kofi Annan’s resignation, Democracy Digest takes a look at the continuing evolution of U.S. policy on Syria.

A parliamentary election in Georgia is set for October 1, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports on the political pressures facing the country’s Olympic athletes as the race heats up.

In an op-ed for The Moscow Times, Katrina Lantos Swett and Robert P. George worry about the effects of narrowing religious freedom in Putin’s Russia.

At OpenDemocracy.net, Marina Akhmedova takes a harrowing journey into the world of Russia’s drug addicts, and Sahil Dutta argues that debtors need to rediscover their political power.