Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, September 8, 2014

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Samia Errazzouki sheds light on the Bahraini authorities’ arrest of her friend and colleague Maryam al-Khawaja.

Vladimir Soloviev warns that Moldova could be Moscow’s next victim.

Ken Opalo and Ngala Chome find that Kenya’s opposition is spoiling for a fight as violence sweeps the country’s periphery.

Christian Caryl wonders whether democracy is possible without good roads.

Juan Nagel notes that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is backing away from reforms that could have revitalized the country’s stagnating economy.

Mohamed Eljarh sums up the recent events pushing Libya ever closer to civil war.

And now for this week’s recommended reads:

Writing in the Atlantic 25 years after Francis Fukuyama’s famous essay about the "end of history," Timothy Stanley and Alexander Lee warn that defenders of liberal democracy need to take a fresh look at their assumptions if they truly want to advance their cause.

Writing for Monkey Cage, Marc Lynch asks why political scientists were taken aback by the Arab Spring — and what that surprise means for the field.

Keith Gessen offers a richly reported account of a trip to Donetsk in the latest edition of the London Review of Books.

In Mizzima, Aye Myint San reports on Aung San Suu Kyi’s call for a "moral revolution" in Burma.

The Syria Accountability and Justice Center draws lessons from Cambodia after a U.N. tribunal convicts two Khmer Rouge leaders of crimes against humanity.

In the National Interest, Dennis Blair, Ronald Neumann, and Eric Olson argue that the United States needs to use a heavier hand to address threats from fragile states.

The Wall Street Journal‘s John Lyons profiles former Senator Marina Silva, the new Brazilian presidential candidate who is making waves with her promises of economic reform. (The photo above shows Silva greeting supporters at a campaign rally in Guarulhos.) Writing for the same paper, Shibani Mahtani reports on the moneyed elite that is benefiting from the cautious opening of Burma’s economy.

On Women Under Seige, Lauren Wolfe urges world conflict watchers to pay attention to the "softer" aspects of warfare and conflict, including trauma, rape, and its impact on civilians.

In Foreign Affairs, C. Christine Fair suggests that Pakistan’s democratic collapse was caused in part by the military’s desperate attempts to cling to power.

And finally, a new analysis by Adam Tiouririne, for the Logos Consulting Group, finds that states whose names tout democratic principles are often the least democratic.

Democracy Lab returned from its two-week break on Sept. 2. For new content, visit democracylab.foreignpolicy.com.