Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, November 3, 2014

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Christian Caryl explains why America has become a poor advertisement for democracy around the world — and how it can clean up its act.

Berivan Orucoglu takes a closer look at Turkey’s crackdown on Twitter.

Alexander Mutale supplies the background on Zambia’s first white president.

Rick Rowden argues that the restrictive financial polices of the International Monetary Fund are partly to blame for the spread of Ebola.

Ala’a Shehabi asks why Bahrain has been turning a blind eye to extremists even while working overtime to suppress pro-democracy activists.

Juan Nagel looks at Venezuela’s troubled relations with OPEC as the price of oil plummets.

James Kirchick reports on Ukraine’s successful parliamentary election.

And now for this week’s recommended reads:

In the Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria wonders why Tunisia’s transition to democracy has worked while Egypt’s has failed. In the Guardian, Monica Marks challenges the notion that the victory of a secular party in Tunisia’s parliamentary election is automatically a win for democracy.

Carnegie Endowment’s Thomas Carothers chides Egypt for its crackdown on civil society.

Jay Ulfelder, writing on his blog Dart-Throwing Chimp, explains why social scientists still can’t predict the outcome of popular uprisings like the one in Burkina Faso. (The photo above shows opposition leaders rallying during ongoing protests in Ouagadougou.)

In Foreign Affairs, Alina Polyakova analyzes the new and old faces that battled for political influence in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections.

The Transnational Institute takes a critical look at Burma’s new land use legislation. Burma Partnership urges the government to investigate the recent death of a journalist in Burmese Army custody.

Human Rights Watch’s Tanya Cooper scrutinizes the arrest of Konstantin Zharinov, who could face four years in Russia’s prisons for reposting someone else’s statement on his social media accounts.

In the Washington Post, Ellen Nakashima reports on a Chinese organization that’s targeting dissidents and democracy activists in sophisticated cyber attacks.

And on BuzzFeed, Think Democracy profiles the sinister zombie election monitors that skew reporting to keep autocrats in power.