Ash Jain and David F. Gordon discuss the merits of a D10 composed of like-minded and capable democracies from around the world as a mechanism to pursue shared democratic interests and deepen strategic cooperation to face the challenges of today's world.

In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Democracy in Retreat, Joshua Kurlantzick argues that voting is losing its cachet in the developing world and in the West.

In an excerpt from his new book, Democracy in Retreat, Joshua Kurlantzick argues democracy cannot flourish unless the middle class embraces it, warts and all.

In the next decade, China will continue to rise, not fade. Its leaders will consolidate the one-party model and, in the process, challenge the West's smug certainty about political development and the inevitable march toward electoral democracy.

Li is far too confident in the benefits of Chinese authoritarianism. So far, what has held China back is not any lack of demand for democracy, but a lack of supply.

The Arab uprisings of 2011, once a great source of hope for democracy enthusiasts, have given way to sectarian clashes and political instability.

It's easy to be pessimistic about the Arab Spring, given the post-revolutionary turmoil the Middle East is now experiencing.

Joshua Kurlantzick examines how emerging democratic powers like India and Brazil have thus far avoided a leadership in democracy promotion commensurate with their new global statuses

Meghan L. O'Sullivan says, "No single proposal is going to smooth over the acute political division in Egypt. Yet a deal over a constitutional review holds the prospect of at least breaking the impasse."

Joshua Kurlantzick shares an excerpt from his new book, Democracy in Retreat, which revolves around a disturbing thesis: that after a steady increase in the number of democracies in the world for nearly a century, autocratic rule is on the march.

Steven A. Cook says, "This is a critical moment in Egypt's transition; Morsi and his colleagues would do well to recognize that, rescind the decrees, and commit themselves to the democratic process. At this point, it is the only way for the Brothers to burnish their revolutionary credentials."

President Obama and President Sein of Myanmar gave these remarks on November 19, 2012 in Rangoon, Myanmar.

President Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi gave these remarks in Myanmar on November 19, 2012.

Joshua Kurlantzick reviews King Bhumibhol Adulyadej: A Life's Work and examines how, in Thailand and elsewhere, royal reverence has hampered democracy.

The September 11 killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans during an attack by an angry mob on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has concentrated the world's attention on the problems of post-Qaddafi Libya.

Isobel Coleman writes that despite persistent challenges to security and unity, Libya has weathered the year since Qaddafi's death better than many expected.

Reza Aslan says the question isn't whether Islam promotes democracy, but rather do Muslims promote democracy, remarking that there are some who do and some who don't, as is the case with followers of every religious tradition on earth."

A new Freedom House report highlights that a lack of substantive institutional reform, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, has left states struggling to maintain democratic achievements.

Ed Husain considers how recent protests in the Middle East reflect the challenges facing Arab societies in the aftermath of decades of authoritarian leadership.

In the wake of the deadly attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya, Bobby Ghosh writes that the newly-formed democratic governments which replaced long-standing dictatorships, as a result of the Arab Spring, has contributed to greater instability and a more chaotic and unstable Middle East.