Sharing Worst Practice Executive Summary
The findings of Sharing worst practice: How countries and institutions in the former Soviet Union help create legal tools of repression highlight the clear similarities in the types of repressive…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
Introduction: Sharing worst practice in the former Soviet Union
Sharing worst practice: How countries and institutions in the former Soviet Union help create legal tools of repression examines the extent to which governments across the former Soviet Union (FSU)…
The ‘Moscow Consensus’: Constructing autocracy in post-Soviet Eurasia
For the past decade, the annual report from Freedom House on political and civil liberties has made for sombre reading. Every year for the past 12 years it has marked…
How countries and institutions in the former Soviet Union help create legal tools of repression
The recent history of law making in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been characterised by a significant number of countries adopting laws that suffocate civil society and limit human…
Russia’s influence in shrinking civic space in Central Asia
Since gaining their independence in 1991, the five countries of Central Asia have never been easy places to be a human rights defender (HRD). From the very beginning, when international…
Legislating against foreign funding of human rights – A tool of repression in the former Soviet Union
The ability of civil society organisations (hereinafter referred to as non-governmental organisations or ‘NGOs’) to seek, secure and use resources, including foreign funding, is a fundamental component of their right…
Russia’s ‘traditional values’ leadership
The trend: State enforcement of traditional values Over the last ten years, the countries of the former Soviet Union have seen a growing trend of legislation aimed at protecting the…
Freedom of the media under attack across the former Soviet Union
Leaders in the majority of countries of the former Soviet Union have long viewed the expression of alternative viewpoints and dissent as a threat, establishing economic and legislative environments that…
Practices relating to freedom of assembly in the former Soviet Union
Despite being a constitutionally protected right, freedom of peaceful assembly remains undervalued, over-regulated and inadequately protected in many countries in the former Soviet Union.[1] Some of the most egregious responses…
The legal framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: An architecture of authoritarianism
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) purports to be a broad-based international organisation formally tasked with promoting multilateral cooperation within Central Asia. However, a deeper look at this organisation illustrates that…