1、THE GLOBAL STATE OF DEMOCRACYIN FOCUSNo.12,March 2022The Ukraine War and the Struggle to Defend Democracy in Europe and BeyondRising stakes in the struggle for democracyIncreasing authoritarianism in some countries,such as Russia,coupled with gradual democratic erosion around the world,poses an exce
2、ptional threat to a rules-based global order,and consequently to peace and prosperity.The invasion of Ukraine is the most blatant and tragic realization of this threat.Although the current conflict has been ongoing at a low level since at least 2014,the recent escalation in interstate hostilities is
3、 on a scale that is unprecedented in recent history and makes real a key assumption that all democratic governments should contemplate:democracy has powerful enemies willing to destroy it.Rising Russian authoritarianism has contributed to a context that has made the unprovoked aggression in Ukraine
4、possible.The Russian Government has hollowed out any space in which the opposition could question its policy decisions or in which any political institution or civil society could hold it accountable.The little sprouts of democracy that appeared in Russia in the mid-1990s have,for the most part,been
