Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, January 25, 2016

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Adrian Karatnycky argues that Ukraine’s reformers should steer clear of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has now become a major player in domestic Ukrainian politics.

Christian Caryl tells the story of two very different people — a former spy and a liberal activist — who were both poisoned by the Kremlin.

Farah Samti reports on renewed economic protests in Tunisia, where the democratic revolution has brought few tangible benefits to ordinary people.

Nate Schenkkan explains how the Russian economic crisis is bringing Central Asia’s years of stability to an end.

In his story about how Brazil crowdsourced a landmark Internet freedom law, Daniel O’Maley shows that even troubled democracies can produce surprising innovations.

 And now for this week’s recommended reads:

Exactly five years after the overthrow of President Mubarak, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy releases a report that lays out the failed promise of Egypt’s revolution. In the Atlantic, Lauren Bohn traces the fates of five families as they try to navigate the new Egypt. And in the Independent, Mohamed Lotfy explains that it’s never been more dangerous to be a human rights activist in Egypt.

For Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Eugen Tomiuc and Radu Benea report on the third straight day of protests in Moldova, where demonstrators are demanding the resignation of a new pro-European government that’s widely perceived as corrupt.

In World Affairs, Alexander Motyl offers an optimistic take on Ukraine, detailing some of the country’s major successes since the Euromaidan revolution.

For IranWire, Nargess Tavassollan shows us how Iran’s judicial system manipulates defense lawyers to keep dissidents behind bars. Also in IranWire, an anonymous journalist asks ten ordinary Iranians to react to the removal of sanctions.

In the New York Times, Min Zin explains how Aung San Suu Kyi and Beijing are outmaneuvering Burma’s formerly all-powerful military. In Foreign Policy, Suzanne Nossel offers Aung San Suu Kyi some tips on how to ensure that the country’s democratic transition succeeds.

Also in Foreign Policy, Bruce Ackerman and Maciej Kisilowski argue that only the United States can make Europe hold Poland’s new government accountable for its assault on democracy.

In the Guardian, Will Hutton explains what the British inquiry into Putin’s murder of Alexander Litvinenko shows us about the importance of rule of law.

In the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin argues that Republican candidates for the U.S. presidency should not turn away from democracy promotion.

In the photo, people rally against the government in front of the Parliament building in Chisinau on January 21, 2016.

Photo credit: DORIN GOIAN/AFP/Getty Images