Jakub Wisniewski gives the background to Poland's remarkable economic success story.

In our latest case study published in conjunction with Princeton's Innovations for Successful Societies, Laura Bacon and Rushda Majeed tell the story of a remarkable Sicilian mayor who decided to take back his city from the Mafia.

In this week's column, Christian Caryl explains the lingering scandal behind the story of Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator. Caryl also reports on the reasons why the U.S. government has decided to withhold its assent to the new UN telecommunications treaty that the Americans accuse of infringing on the freedom of the Internet.

Mohamed El Dahshan reports on the internal Muslim Brotherhood politics that are fueling the current unrest in Egypt. 

Adam Baron analyzes the problems that plague Yemen on the way to a planned national political dialogue.

Corey Brettschneider argues that the U.S. government should actively condemn hate speech as well as protecting the freedom of the word.

Endy Bayuni explores the reasons behind the current surge in union activism in Indonesia -- including the surprising willingness of local governments to support wage hikes.

Juan Nagel mulls over the continuing speculation about a successor to cancer-plagued Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.  

And now for this week's recommended reads:

The Project on Middle East Political Science offers a video conversation on the new Egyptian constitution with expert Nathan Brown.

At Jadailyya.com, Linda Herrera, Magdy Alabady, and Adel Iskandar analyze the political role of Mohamed El-Baradei in Egypt's current political unrest.

Writing for the Jamestown Foundation, Wladimir van Wilgenburg explains why fighting between Kurdish groups and Arab rebels helps Bashar al-Assad.

The website of the pro-democracy group Girifna offers an update on the latest protests in Sudan.

Democracy Digest offers two useful takes on the situation in Venezuela amid renewed reports that President Hugo Chavez is again struggling with cancer. One post speculates on the fate of chavismo without Chavez. The second brings together commentary on the state of the opposition as speculation about the possibility of a post-Chavez Venezuela revs up again.

Anne Applebaum, writing in The Washington Post, posits that corruption is becoming the new galvanizing issue for activists around the world.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty offers a breakdown on a Swedish documentary that tracks corruption linked with Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the dictator of Uzbekistan.

The Monkey Cage features a post in which an array of political scientists weigh in on the function of legislatures in authoritarian regimes:

A new report from the International Crisis Group explains why Muslim insurgents are gaining ground on the government of Thailand in the country's turbulent South.

A new U.N. report details illegal drug trends in Asia and the Pacific.

Cristina Odone profiles Carne Ross, the crusader who's trying to save diplomacy from itself. And Willam Lloyd-George offers a portrait of Shwe Mann, the Burmese politician who's now being wooed by the White House despite his checkered past.

James Kirchick accuses Georgia's recently elected prime minister of threatening to derail the country's fledgling democracy.

Christian Caryl addresses the question of what makes a hero, and argues that Thein Sein, Burma's ex-general president, has what it takes.

Peter Murrell and Chuluunbat Narantuya explain how Mongolia's nomadic culture is helping the country evade the resource curse.

Ellen Bork warns the United States government against rushing prematurely into close cooperation with the Burmese military.

Alex Thurston analyzes the latest violent twist in the saga of Mauritania's troubled transition to democracy.

Endy Bayuni casts a skeptical eye on the human rights declaration recently passed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Jackee Batanda explains Uganda's involvement in the rising rebel movement in Congo -- and what Kampala can do to help end the crisis.

Juan Nagel takes a look at the latest mysterious disappearance of Venezuela's ailing president.

And here are this week's recommended reads:

The Atlantic Council's Egypt Source offers an excellent background on Egypt's constitutional crisis. Particularly useful are Nancy Messieh's close reading of the draft Egyptian constitution and Yussuf Auf's in-depth examination of the role of the Egyptian judiciary. Mohsin Khan provides much-needed coverage of a vital issue that has gone lost amid the political turmoil: The government's new economic plan.

Writing for NowLebanon, Hussein Ibish gives a scathing take on Egyptian President Morsi's efforts to accumulate power.

Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment makes a plea for reform of the U.S. democracy promotion establishment.

In a remarkable report for National Geographic, Jeff Bartholet tells the personal story behind a Tibetan's decision to set himself on fire as a protest against Chinese rule.

Tunisia Live offers excellent reporting on the continuing clashes between protestors and security forces at Siliana.

The International Crisis Group presents a must-read report on why Sudan desperately needs reforms if it is to avoid a new round of warfare with its own citizens and its neighbors.

Writing for CogitASIA (at the Center for Strategic and International Studies), Phuong Nguyen explains why Burma's important new laws on public assembly remain a work in progress.

Harvard's Calestous Juma shows how tribalism hampers the building of democratic institutions in Africa.

The International Republican Institute offers a useful backgrounder on recent elections in Somaliland. (You can find analyses of the results here and here.)

Mac Margolis explains why Brazilian political consultants are all the rage in Latin America and beyond.

Min Zin anticipates President Obama's planned trip to Burma and what it might mean for the development of the country's democracy.

Pedro Pizano and Jamie Leigh Hancock offer a rare glimpse inside one of Africa's harshest dictatorships.

Based on an interview with Transparency International co-founder Laurence Cockcroft, Christian Caryl contends that corruption is set to become one of the defining political issues of the twenty-first century.

Liana Aghajanian reports on Armenians' revolt against the political and economic power of business tycoons.

Azzurra Meringolo interviews the leading Bahraini human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja.

Juan Nagel looks ahead to the approaching state elections in Venezuela and wonders whether the opposition will have a chance.

And Endy Bayuni tells the sad story of a scandal over judges with poor judgement.

And now for this week's recommended reads:

Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart, writing for the Legatum Institute, present an outline for a post-war transition in Syria.  

Democracy Digest examines Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's vow to stay no matter what, and analyzes the impact of his statement on the continuing civil war.

Writing for the Center for International Policy Studies, Alexandra Gheciu examines the possibility of military intervention in Mali.

At Jadaliyya, Fawwaz Traboulsi maps out the political opportunities that the Arab Spring has provided to the forces of the left -- and suggests how they might be exploited.

Shannon K. O'Neil at the Council on Foreign Relations analyzes how U.S. state votes on the decriminalization of marijuana will affect drug policies in Latin America.

Radio Free Asia provides a profile of the "multimedia monk" who has been campaigning for human rights in Cambodia.

The Economist presents a video report on the ethnic violence in western Burma.

Golnaz Esfandiari, author of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty's Persian Letters blogs, provides a unique look into the mindset of one of Iran's basij paramilitaries.

At Al-Akhbar English, Sarah El Sirgany offers an intriguing comparison of the U.S. and Eygptian presidential elections.

(A note to our subscribers: from now on the Democracy Lab Weekly Brief will begin arriving in your inbox on Monday mornings. You'll receive the next installment on November 5.)

William Lloyd-George profiles the Islamist warlord who is threatening to transform his corner of northern Africa into a safe haven for jihadis.

Writing from Tbilisi, Molly Corso analyzes the tensions surrounding the formation of a new government after this month's parliamentary elections.

Christian Caryl argues that America's non-voters deserve to be taken seriously by the rest of their compatriots.

Jamsheed Choksy and Eden Naby warn against sectarianism in the wake of the Arab Spring and consider measures to protect religious minorities.

Mohamad El Dahshan rediscovers a lost satire on dictatorship.

Endy Bayuni examines why Indonesia's Islamist parties have so far had little success at the ballot box.

Min Zin looks at how some of the players in Burma's political scene are bending the constitutional rule book to their own advantage.

And Juan Nagel assesses Venezuela's democratic credentials.

And here are this week's recommended reads:

In a new article for Foreign Affairs, Ruchir Sharma argues that we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the BRIC success story.

At The New York Review of Books, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley wonder whether Islamist ascendance bodes ill or well for the legacy of the Arab Spring.

A story by the BBC describes the growing schism between secularists and Islamists in the Syrian opposition. In a new report, Human Rights Watch provides evidence of continued use of cluster bombs against civilians by the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Fahed Al-Sumait, writing for Jadaliyya, looks at the growing political crisis in Kuwait.

A new case study from Princeton's Innovations for Successful Societies focuses on a remarkable open-data initiative within the government of Kenya.

Writing for OpenDemocracy.net, William Callahan examines how debate over the relative virtues of authoritarianism and democracy figures in the growing rivalry between China and India.

A new report from the Center for Global Development tackles the question of whether foreign aid to Afghanistan has bolstered governance or merely prolonged the government's ability to conduct war.

And finally, a group of activists has released "An Outsider's Guide to Supporting Nonviolent Resistance to Dictatorship," a new handbook on the art of peaceful revolution.

[The photo above shows Egyptian worshipers gathering in a soccer stadium to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.)

In a remarkable interview with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, Nazila Fathi asks Iran's leading human rights activist why she believes that an attack on Iran would strengthen the mullahs and undermine democratic aspirations.

Mark James Russell explores how South Korean popular culture has been giving the country's exports a brand name bump in the developing world.

Looking ahead to next week's parliamentary election in Georgia, political scientist Scott Radnitz argues that having two political machines contending for power is better than one. This week's case study from Princeton's Innovations for Successful Societies offers an in-depth look at one of President Saakashvili's signature reforms.

Juan Nagel offers a snapshot of the chaotic run-up to next month's presidential election in Venezuela, while Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez unravels the mystery behind "undecided" voters.

Christian Caryl makes the case that Aung San Suu Kyi should not be immune to criticism.

Roger Bate urges the FDA to take regulating internationally sourced pharmaceuticals more seriously.

Mohamed El Dahshan takes aim at the seemingly archaic Egyptian economic policy.

Endy Bayuni contrasts the various Indonesian views on blasphemy laws.

And here are this week's recommended reads:

The International Republican Institute offers a handy overview of the political scene and the major players in Georgia's October 1 election. At The Atlantic, Charles H. Fairbanks Jr. looks at the recent prison scandal there and what they say about the legacy of the 2003 Rose Revolution.

The Caracas newspaper, El Universal, analyzes the impending Venezuelan presidential election through the prism of both candidates' tweets. Reuters investigates the scandal over a fortune in government funds spent on a factory that never quite got built.

In its latest report, Freedom House takes a critical look at the state of censorship on the web.

October's issue of Journal of Democracy includes several noteworthy papers on the state of Burma's transition, including pieces by Hkun Htun Oo on minority rights, Min Ko Naing on civil society, and Brian Joseph and our very own Min Zin on the challenges of building democracy.

Anthony Kuhn of National Public Radio tells the story of Singapore's forgotten dissidents.

Democracy Digest offers a helpful introduction to a new report, Political Parties in Democratic Transitions, that analyzes the dynamics of democratic transitions.

As the wave of protests around the Muslim world ebbs, two authors offer their perspectives on the motives of religious anger: Kenan Malik compares the latest protests with the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and Steve Cole, writing in The New Yorker, shows why the TV imagery of fanatical rioters usually falls short of a complex reality.

Christian Caryl reports on the Salafi movement, which has been implicated in many of this week's protests around the Middle East.

Mohamed El Dahshan laments his Egyptian compatriots' overreaction to an insult against Islam -- and also explains why he's not worried about the introduction of veiled newsreaders on TV.

Read on

Three Princeton researchers (Morgan Greene, Jonathan Friedman, and Richard Bennet) tell the story of how post-Yugoslavia Kosovo (with some help from the international community) managed to pull off a remarkable feat of state-building.

Endy Bayuni explains why Indonesians disagree about the start of Ramadan, and what it says about the country's climate of religious toleration.

Read on

Mohamed Fadel Fahmy interviews Robert Becker, who decided to stay in Egypt and have his day in court rather than leave the country with the other Americans implicated in the NGO affair.

Francisco Martin-Rayo argues that America is undermining Yemen's opportunity to build democracy for the sake of waging war on Al Qaeda. (The photo above shows Yemeni jihadis manning a checkpoint.)

Reporting from The Hague, Christopher Stephen explains why the welcome verdict against Charles Taylor shouldn't divert attention from the continuing irrelevance of the International Criminal Court.

Read on

Tensions soared in Senegal ahead of the Feb. 26 elections as security forces clashed with protestors. Opposition leader Youssou N'Dour, the singer, was injured during a political rally. At least six protestors have reportedly died over the past month. Nigerian ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo met with the government and opposition leaders in an effort to mediate the political standoff.

President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali said that presidential elections will be held on time in April despite a heavily-armed Tuareg uprising taking place in the north of the country.

The International Criminal Court announced it will investigate possible war crimes committed in Cote d'Ivoire as far back as 2002, after Laurent Gbagbo became president. The court was previously only looking at crimes committed in the violence that followed the 2010 election when Gbagbo, currently in jail in The Hague, refused to step down.

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Asia

In Burma, the largest strike since 1938 is testing the limits of the new law allowing labor unions. China's leaders urged the Burmese government to reinforce its control over the two countries' turbulent border.

Experts warned of potential security risks in the lead-up to Timor-Leste's general elections in March.

The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva is expected to call on the Sri Lankan government next week to report its progress on investigating possible war crimes committed at the end of the civil war in 2009. The UN also wants to see an accounting of reconciliation measures taken by the authorities.

Amid the continuing political crisis in the Maldives, the Commonwealth urged government and opposition to start an immediate dialogue leading toward early elections at the end of 2012.

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