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.

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.

Steven Radelet's accessible new book argues that much of the credit for Africa's recent economic boom goes to its increasingly open political systems.

No state with serious oil wealth has ever transformed into a democracy.

Democratic institutions cannot be set up easily; they are likely to emerge only when certain social and cultural conditions exist.

The third wave of global democratization has stopped and begun to recede. Better governance is the key to a fourth.

The Indian economy is booming -- but the boom will last only as long as the vagaries of Indian democratic politics allow it to. Democracy and market reform are uneasily aligned in India today, and the additional reforms necessary to raise the lot of India's poor masses -- who have enormous voting clout -- may not garner a popular mandate at the ballot box. Although a long-term asset, democracy could prove to be a short-term headache for India's reformers.

The assassination of Afghan government negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani signals the challenges in any reconciliation talks with the Taliban and could exacerbate ethnic divisions, pushing the country into a civil war.

As some NATO countries move to send advisers to help Libyan rebels, debate remains unsettled on whether charting a path to greater military involvement or a negotiated political solution is the right approach.

Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, takes office amid growing ire against  U.S. military actions in Pakistan. Seven years after 9/11, is Islamabad still committed to counterterrorism?

Bhutto’s assassination and the tumult that followed highlights serious problems in Pakistan’s transition toward democracy.

Pakistan’s inability to control internal violence raises concerns about January elections, which some analysts hoped would move the country toward democracy.

Amid concerns over a growing rift between Russia and the United States, President Vladimir Putin surprised President Bush with an offer on missile defense.  

Boris Yeltsin played a pivotal role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but his topsy-turvy tenure at the helm of post-Soviet Russia was marked by war, economic debacle, and fleeting freedoms for Russians.

Ukraine's Orange Revolution is effectively over, with a pro-Russia prime minister back in power. Yet it is far from clear whether the revolution's undoing will erode pro-democracy gains elsewhere in the post-Soviet space.

With a new government in place, security concerns will dominate the Iraqi leaders' agenda. Reforming the country's decrepit police will be paramount for Iraq to end its cycle of violence.