Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, March 10, 2014

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Zaher Sahloul reports on the Syrian regime’s use of snipers to kill innocent civilians.

Askold Krushelnycky shows why the Ukrainian military’s self-restraint be its greatest weapon. Anna Nemtsova takes a look at Ukraine’s nationalist militias as tensions build over Crimea.

Srdja Popovic and Mladen Joksic offer advice to protesters who’d like to make oppression backfire.

Christian Caryl assesses the current wave of mass protests in Turkey, Thailand, and Venezuela — and examines how they differ from the Arab Spring.

Juan Nagel fact-checks the Venezuelan government’s defense of its policies as popular unrest continues.

Hanna Hindstrom tracks Burma’s worrying backslide into media censorship.

Mohamed Eljarh assesses the situation in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, where extremists have made it too dangerous to vote.

And now for this week’s recommended reads:

International Foundation for Electoral Systems gives a quiz on women’s political participation to celebrate International Women’s Day. In the Independent, Felicity Morse explains why we need International Women’s Day — and offers the statistics to prove it. Over at the Guardian, prominent women defend dissent within feminist ranks.

In the Globe and Mail, Mark Kersten challenges Russia’s argument that it has a "responsibility to protect" its citizens in Ukraine. In the New York Times, Robert Mackey documents the ways Ukrainians have used social media to get the word out about the ongoing crisis.

On Syria Deeply, Akil Hosain interviews a Syrian mother with two sons: one who joined the regime’s army, and another who fights for the opposition.

Writing for the Irrawaddy, Aung Zaw warns against increasing government pressure on the Burmese press. Reporting for Vice, Daniel Otis peeks behind the curtain of one of Burma’s largest rebel armies.

On the Council on Foreign Relations blog, Amelia M. Wolf argues that the recent protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the result of discontent with corruption and economic mismanagement in the government, not ethnic tensions.

In Colombia Reports, Daniel E. Freeman explains why Colombia’s "blank vote" option attracted so much support — and what that means for democracy in the country. (In the photo above, Colombian soldiers enjoy ice cream while guarding polling stations during the congressional election on March 9.)