From New Statesman, a special section on Vlad the Great: Putin has dismantled the fragile democracy of the 1990s, but has never been more popular; an article on the modern Russian paradox: Ironies behind the elite’s confused thinking; and whether in pro-western or pro-Moscow states, repression and corruption are flourishing among Russia's neighbours. Portrait of a reluctant democracy: Der Spiegel presents five regional snapshots of a nation with eleven time zones, pinning its hopes on one man. An article on Putin’s last realm to conquer: Russian culture. An article on Putin and the dawn of the New Authoritarians. Saviours of nations, but at what cost? Why Putin's and Chavez's policies and style of leadership are perceived positively at home while openly condemned by so many abroad. Donald Rumsfeld on the smart way to beat tyrants like Chavez. Venezuela's president and public enemy No. 1: Despite his anti-U.S. rhetoric and ambitions, the only country that Hugo Chavez really threatens is his own. How is it that the people of Venezuela have reached such a bizarre crossroad that we now ask ourselves if it is democratic to establish the indefinite re-election of the president? Pakistanis go to the ballot box, if only in the hope that some kind of reconciliation among the powers that be will bring us out of these “emergent” and “extraordinary” times. If you thought Musharraf was bad: Former Pakistani Prime Ministers Sharif and Bhutto are hardly the right leaders to nurture democracy and fight terrorism. They just keep us hangin' on, but why? New studies shed light on that age-old delusion of leaders: Irreplaceability.
