Celebrate Your Right To Ignore (or Watch) the Olympics
Born in nationalism, the Olympic games are fading into a niche entertainment option.
Communism
Deng Xiaoping and the Communist Party Don't Deserve Credit for Chinese Economic Power
China's economic reforms were bottom-up, not top-down.
She Survived China's Attempt to Erase Her
“We have been through horrific things, but I’m still proud of being Uyghur," says Tursunay Ziyawudun, a survivor of China's torture camps.
Squid Game Says More About Communism Than Capitalism
The breakout Netflix series contains critiques of a decidedly "anti-capitalist" political and economic system that's haunted the Korean Peninsula.
Should NATO Open Its Doors to Georgia?
Conflict with Russia has been an ever-present threat in the three decades since Georgia broke away from the collapsing Soviet Union.
Turkmenistan's Record-Setting Repression
The most oppressive of the former Soviet countries is run by a dictator with a strange cult of personality.
Foucault in the Panopticon
How Michel Foucault's encounters in Poland's heavily policed gay community informed his ideas
Terrorwashing a Genocide
How the war on terror facilitated Communist China's repression of Uyghurs
The Baltic Way
How Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania ended up with relatively high degrees of economic freedom and political stability
Meet the New Boss in Azerbaijan
A look at Azerbaijan’s rampant corruption, unfair elections, and flimsy institutions
Lost in Transition
30 years after the Soviet collapse, what happened to the Russian dream of a free economy?
The Sick Man of Central Asia
Tajikistan remains economically underdeveloped despite plentiful natural resources.
The Pope Who Helped Bring Down Communism
"I have no doubt," Polish President Lech Wałęsa once said, that without John Paul II "the birth of Solidarity would not have been possible."
Eugene Huskey on the Soviet Legacy in Central Asia
"This is the nature of an authoritarian regime. You don't quite know where the boundaries of acceptable discourse are. Everything is uncertain."
A Glimmer of Success in Miserable Moldova
Maia Sandu, Moldova's new president, has cleverly positioned her new government as being in thrall neither to Moscow nor to Brussels.
Leaving Uzbekistan
Why is it so hard for Uzbek citizens to get permission to travel abroad?
Ukraine Still Hungers for Independence
For two years in the 1930s, the people of Ukraine were forced to starve in service of a political idea.
Communism Destroyed Russian Cooking
Soviet rule promised abundance. Instead it brought misery and starvation.
The Anarchic Interlude
In 1990s Prague, wonderful things happened in the chaotic space between the end of communism and the rise of its replacement.
Watching Mikhail Gorbachev Resign in Moscow
The day the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time
Kazakhstan Kleptocracy
Authoritarianism and abundant natural resources make a treacherous combination in Kazakhstan.
Let Trade Topple Cuba's Tyranny
Biden should denounce Cuba’s communist tyranny while pushing for more free trade with Cubans.
The Cuban Heavy Metal Band That Joined the Communist Regime
The members of Zeus fought for the freedom to be frikis. Then they joined the Castro government's official Agency of Rock.
Soviet Ethnic Policies Split Kyrgyzstan
Conflict between minority groups still lingers today
November 7 as Victims of Communism Day—2021
While I have long advocated using May 1 for this purpose, November 7 is a worthy alternative candidate, which I am happy to adopt if it can attract a broad consensus.
Red Markets
Sometimes communist countries had to tolerate a little economic liberty just to survive.
Garry Kasparov's Gambit
The greatest chess player in modern history on how the Soviet Union lost to the free world.
The Best of Cold War Culture
Books, films, and more related to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
What Happened to the Former Soviet Republics?
Exploring the long-tail consequences of the evil empire in its many forms
Remittances Bolster—and Limit—Armenia's Potential
Remitting took off during the Soviet period and has remained high over the years due to lack of domestic economic opportunity.
Garry Kasparov: Greatest Soviet Chess Champion on the Awful System That Created Him
The grandmaster and human rights activist talks about the lessons the world—especially American democratic socialists—must remember three decades after communism's collapse.
Sen. Josh Hawley Joins Chinese Communists in Fretting Over Manhood
Authoritarians see masculinity as so fragile that it needs to be reinforced by the state.
The Uses and Disadvantages of Soviet History for Life
It is hard to comprehend the scarcity and existential dread that was humanity's constant companion during the Cold War.
Garry Kasparov: From Communism's Last Chess Champion to Freedom Fighter
30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its greatest—and last—chess champion reflects on the awful system that produced him.
When the 'Native Son' Became 'The Man Who Lived Underground'
One of Richard Wright's best books went unpublished in his lifetime, due to "unbearable" scenes of police brutality. Now at last it is in print.
China Declares a Culture War on Androgyny
Officials look for scapegoats to blame as the working force suffers burnout.
Once a Communist Backwater, Georgia Discovered the Benefits of Free Markets. Now It Risks Abandoning Them.
"Government should be very small. It should just regulate the minimum."
To Fight Communism, the U.S. Should Beam Internet Into Cuba
"The Cuban people are not asking for military intervention."
No Self-Respecting American Should Aspire to Hungarian-Style Nationalism
Extolling the virtues of Viktor Orbán's culture war over a sumptuous meal in Budapest is next-level cognitive dissonance.
The Case for Beaming Internet Into Cuba
The technological hurdles might be too difficult to overcome, but it's worth trying.
Cuba's Protests Are a Sign of Imperial Overreach
Busy exploiting its Venezuelan colony, the communist regime failed to see the discontent brewing at home.
Open the Door to Cuban and Haitian Refugees
The Biden Administration is wrong to bar those who arrive by sea.
Will the Internet Destroy Cuba's Communist Dictatorship?
Historic protests enabled by social media and cellphone footage are threatening to finally end Castro's revolutionary regime.
'If You Take to the Sea, You Will Not Come to the United States,' Cuban Refugee DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tells Other Cuban Refugees
Biden promised to be an immigration changemaker. Where is the change?
Ted Henken: How Social Media Fuels the Protests in Cuba
Demonstrators are making themselves heard via Facebook, Signal, and other platforms. Is that enough to overthrow an authoritarian regime?
