Democracy Lab

About Democracy Lab

Democracy Lab is Foreign Policy's home for coverage of transitions to democracy, published in partnership with the Legatum Institute. Democracy Lab also runs Transitions, a blog featuring on-the-ground coverage of transitioning countries.

Editor, Christian Caryl
Assistant Editor, Ilya Lozovsky

Learn more about Democracy Lab here.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Roman Voskoboynikov, who is originally from Ukraine, after a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony inside the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Roman Voskoboynikov, who is originally from Ukraine, after a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony inside the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Biden Administration Is Addicted to Partnerships

The inauspicious return of the Cold War strategy of “Pactomania.”

Argument
Stephen M. Walt
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walks with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he arrives for a meeting with U.S. representatives at the Capitol in Washington.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walks with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he arrives for a meeting with U.S. representatives at the Capitol in Washington.

U.S. Budget Deal Has Europe Questioning American Resolve on Ukraine

If U.S. military aid falls short, more Ukrainians will die, officials in Kyiv say.

Report
Jack Detsch, Robbie Gramer
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, attends a press conference at Media Center in Beijing, China.
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, attends a press conference at Media Center in Beijing, China.

China’s Foreign Minister Is Headed to Washington

The Biden administration has been laying the groundwork for a big meeting with Xi Jinping.

Report
Robbie Gramer, Christina Lu
Residents evacuate Haiti.
Residents evacuate Haiti.

U.N. Approves Foreign Intervention in Haiti

The 12-month mandate will aim to combat gang violence by providing additional security and stopping global arms sales.

World Brief
Alexandra Sharp
People use a sled over a frozen river at the Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin, in northeastern China, on Jan. 4.
People use a sled over a frozen river at the Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin, in northeastern China, on Jan. 4.

China’s United Front Operations Are Ubiquitous—at Home

One department now oversees everything from religion to winter sports to influence operations.

ChinaFile
Jessica Batke
Alternative for Germany member Maximilian Krah gestures during an interview in Magdeburg, Germany.
Alternative for Germany member Maximilian Krah gestures during an interview in Magdeburg, Germany.

China Finds Friends in Europe’s Far Right

A German politician’s ties to a Chinese influence network are part of a pattern across Central and Eastern Europe.

China Brief
James Palmer
Markus Soeder, Governor of Bavaria and lead candidate of the Bavarian Social Union (CSU), attends the annual gathering of politicians in beer tents at the Gillamoos folk fest on September 3, 2018 in Abensberg, Germany.
Markus Soeder, Governor of Bavaria and lead candidate of the Bavarian Social Union (CSU), attends the annual gathering of politicians in beer tents at the Gillamoos folk fest on September 3, 2018 in Abensberg, Germany.

The Land of Lederhosen, Beer, and Political Chaos

Bavaria is Germany’s stereotypical idyll—and now a herald of its future turmoil.

Argument
John Kampfner
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts during a meeting on the "Build Back Better World" during the World Leaders Summit of the COP26 U.N. climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021.
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts during a meeting on the "Build Back Better World" during the World Leaders Summit of the COP26 U.N. climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021.

Biden’s Signature Achievement Needs to Go Global

The Inflation Reduction Act is Washington’s boldest climate policy ever—but still woefully insufficient.

Argument
Sagatom Saha, Shayak Sengupta
European Union chief Josep Borrell and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attend a press conference.
European Union chief Josep Borrell and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attend a press conference.

EU Foreign Ministers Make Historic Kyiv Trip

The visit aimed to counter fracturing Western support for Ukraine.

World Brief
Alexandra Sharp
A woman is silhouetted as she walks down stairs past a communist-era stained glass panel in Berlin on April 26, 2019. The early-1960s work depicts images of industry, technology, agriculture, the military, youth, family, and the working class common in socialist art of the communist bloc.
A woman is silhouetted as she walks down stairs past a communist-era stained glass panel in Berlin on April 26, 2019. The early-1960s work depicts images of industry, technology, agriculture, the military, youth, family, and the working class common in socialist art of the communist bloc.

A Tale of Two Germanies

Thirty-three years after reunification, the country’s wounds are rawer than many would like to admit.

Review
Allison Meakem
Members of the GIL (Italian Youth of the Lictor) help farmers during the wheat threshing in Italy.
Members of the GIL (Italian Youth of the Lictor) help farmers during the wheat threshing in Italy.

The Great Turn Inward
Review
Jan-Werner Müller
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.

Will China’s Elite Ever Rise Up?
Flash Points
FP Contributors
A Palestinian man carries his child to cross a roadblock in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2003. Rubble fills the land he walks across and barbed wire coils in front of him. A woman with a head covering follows behind them.
A Palestinian man carries his child to cross a roadblock in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2003. Rubble fills the land he walks across and barbed wire coils in front of him. A woman with a head covering follows behind them.

All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC
Essay
Dalia Hatuqa
Mustafa Nayyem, head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, speaks at an event before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.
Mustafa Nayyem, head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, speaks at an event before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

‘We Don’t Want to Lose Our Second Motherland’
Profile
Luke Johnson
A military escort gives a tour of the destruction in central Derna, Libya.
A military escort gives a tour of the destruction in central Derna, Libya.

Eastern Libya’s Rulers Crack Down on Protests—Not Shoddy Infrastructure
Dispatch
Stefanie Glinski
Hand-painted wooden nesting dolls stand on a table. Two are painted with an image of U.S. President Joe Biden, shown from the torso upward, wearing a black suit and smiling against an American flag background. Next to these is a doll painted with the image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who smiles against a Chinese flag background.
Hand-painted wooden nesting dolls stand on a table. Two are painted with an image of U.S. President Joe Biden, shown from the torso upward, wearing a black suit and smiling against an American flag background. Next to these is a doll painted with the image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who smiles against a Chinese flag background.

The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
Analysis
Raja Krishnamoorthi
U.S. President Joe Biden, center, is welcomed by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, left, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, second from left, on arrival at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan.
U.S. President Joe Biden, center, is welcomed by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, left, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, second from left, on arrival at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan.

A President on the Picket Line?
Insider
Adam Tooze, Cameron Abadi
Then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez arrives for a closed-door briefing by intelligence officials at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez arrives for a closed-door briefing by intelligence officials at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Blue Hawk Down
Report
Robbie Gramer
Children play at the Adre refugee camp, where around 200,000 people (including many displaced by the conflict in Sudan) are currently taking refuge, in Chad on Sept. 19. Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images
Children play at the Adre refugee camp, where around 200,000 people (including many displaced by the conflict in Sudan) are currently taking refuge, in Chad on Sept. 19. Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images

U.S. Fears Sudan’s War Will Worsen Humanitarian Crisis
Report
Jack Detsch
Refugees drive their vehicles in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Refugees drive their vehicles in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The End of Nagorno-Karabakh
World Brief
Alexandra Sharp
Refugees stand in the back of a truck after crossing the border near Kornidzor on Sept. 28. More than 65,000 Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia.
Refugees stand in the back of a truck after crossing the border near Kornidzor on Sept. 28. More than 65,000 Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia.

What Does Nagorno-Karabakh’s Fall Mean for Great Power Influence?
It's Debatable
Emma Ashford, Matthew Kroenig
Armenian refugees wait in the city of Goris before being evacuated to various Armenian cities.
Armenian refugees wait in the city of Goris before being evacuated to various Armenian cities.

What in the World?
Quiz
Drew Gorman

Trending

  1. Green Energy’s Dirty Secret: Its Hunger for African Resources
    Analysis
    Cobus van Staden

  2. The Biden Administration Is Addicted to Partnerships
    Argument
    Stephen M. Walt

  3. China’s Foreign Minister Is Headed to Washington
    Report
    Robbie Gramer, Christina Lu

  4. The Scrambled Spectrum of U.S. Foreign-Policy Thinking
    Analysis
    Ash Jain

  5. Who Are Xi’s Enemies?
    Analysis
    Deng Yuwen

  6. A Tale of Two Germanies
    Review
    Allison Meakem

  7. The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
    Analysis
    Raja Krishnamoorthi

  8. China’s United Front Operations Are Ubiquitous—at Home
    ChinaFile
    Jessica Batke

  9. The United States Is Deeply Invested in the South China Sea
    Excerpt
    Gregory B. Poling

  10. The Great Turn Inward
    Review
    Jan-Werner Müller

Galleries

Protesters—many of them armed—try to enter the Michigan House of Representatives chamber and are stopped by state police during a protest April 30 demanding that businesses be reopened. An “American Patriot Rally” organized by Michigan United for Liberty was held earlier in the day on the steps of the state Capitol in Lansing. JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters—many of them armed—try to enter the Michigan House of Representatives chamber and are stopped by state police during a protest April 30 demanding that businesses be reopened. An “American Patriot Rally” organized by Michigan United for Liberty was held earlier in the day on the steps of the state Capitol in Lansing. JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images

The Week in World Photos

Global protests against government-imposed lockdowns, gang violence in El Salvador, and hat tips to medical staff.

Diana D'Abruzzo
Muslims offer prayers on April 23, the first night of Ramadan, in Bireuen, Indonesia. AMANDA JUFRIAN/AFP via Getty Images
Muslims offer prayers on April 23, the first night of Ramadan, in Bireuen, Indonesia. AMANDA JUFRIAN/AFP via Getty Images

The Week in World Photos

A prayerful start to Ramadan, medical workers on the front lines of a pandemic, and the annual Lyrids meteor shower.

Diana D'Abruzzo

Latest

In the Magazine

Current Issue: Spring 2020 Archives

In the Magazine

Current Issue: Spring 2020 Archives
foreign-policy-magazine-cover-coronavirus-globalization-spring-2020
foreign-policy-magazine-cover-coronavirus-globalization-spring-2020
deglobalization-localization-lego-globe-ben-fearnley
deglobalization-localization-lego-globe-ben-fearnley

How to Save Global Capitalism From Itself

Decentralizing decision-making can help left-behind regions get back on track.

Essay
Raghuram Rajan
brexit-deglobalization-brian-stauffer-illustration
brexit-deglobalization-brian-stauffer-illustration

Britain’s Post-Brexit Identity Crisis

Boris Johnson has contradictory ideas for his country’s future—and no clear paths for getting there.

Argument
James Crabtree

The Ugly End of Chimerica

The coronavirus pandemic has turned a conscious uncoupling into a messy breakup.

Argument
Orville Schell

The 3 Most Polarizing Words in India

“Jai Shri Ram” was meant to be a celebration of a Hindu deity. But the phrase is turning into hate speech—and a dog whistle for attacks on Muslims.

Decoder
Snigdha Poonam
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