Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, September 22, 2014

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Brian Klaas and Marcel Dirsus urge Tunisia’s foreign allies to help the country rein in extremist groups ahead of this year’s elections.

Alina Rocha Menocal, writing on the 25th anniversary of Francis Fukuyama’s famous essay on the triumph of democracy, warns that we can’t always count on liberal principles to prevail.

Moscow city council candidate Natasha Pelevina reflects on the implications of the opposition’s devastating loss in the latest Russian elections.

Juan Nagel describes the demise of Venezuela’s health care system as in-hospital shootings, the spread of strange diseases, and medicine shortages become increasingly common.

Robert Looney argues that Mozambique can dodge the resource curse by rethinking agriculture policy.

Writing before last week’s referendum on Scottish independence, Christian Caryl wonders whether a sovereign Scotland could have achieved true economic freedom. Reporting from Edinburgh on the day of the momentous vote, he also examined why Catalans were so invested in the results, and why the pro-Union majority was so silent on election day.

And now for this week’s recommended reads:

A new World Bank report advises Tunisia to revitalize its economic policy if it hopes to follow through on the revolution’s dreams. Atlantic Council’s Moez Labidi tracks the impact Tunisia’s rising terrorism has had on its economy.

In the Guardian, Alex Duval Smith and photographer Sean Smith catalog a day in Timbuktu, Mali, a city haunted by jihadists, government neglect, and environmental degradation.

Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations investigates Asia’s worrying wave of anti-democracy protests.

Writing for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Katie Nguyen writes that poor countries lose $1 trillion a year to corruption.

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi finds that modernization increases the opportunities and incentives for corruption and offers potential solutions.

Naunihal Singh, writing for Monkey Cage, explains that popular opinion can’t predict coups because conspirators aren’t worried about their popularity.

Writing for the Daily Beast, Kim Ghattas looks at how Lebanese humorists are striking back at the forces of Islamic State.

In the Irrawaddy, May Kha reports on the latest round of ceasefire negotiations in Burma, which many there hope could finally end the long-simmering civil war. (In the photo above, Burmese citizens call for an end to the conflict on the International Day of Peace.)

In the latest issue of the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Roberta S. Jacobson argues that including women in government is a sure-fire way to improve a country’s security.