Authoritarian governments are increasingly seeking to spread their values beyond their borders and put pressure their opponents abroad. Regimes are learning from each other new ways to restrict the freedoms of their citizens and are collaborating to crack down on perceived trouble makers. This programme will look at the role of traditionalist, illiberal civil society groups in promoting the authoritarian viewpoints, as well as the way authoritarian regimes use Western lobbying to manage their image. It will explore ‘the Information Battle’ over the use of media, social media and the wider internet to promote authoritarian messages and challenge independent voices.
This is the second publication produced under the FPC’s ‘Unsafe for Scrutiny’ project.
Report highlights UK's role as top international source of legal threats to journalists
Examining the relationship between religion and forced displacement in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
A new publication drawing attention to the human rights situations in Europe's 'grey zones'.
The fractious rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran and its impact on the Middle East.
Charting the rise of illiberal groups in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.
The challenge facing activists from the former Soviet Union seeking asylum or refuge.
How governments of former Soviet Union (FSU) shape international narratives & challenge opponents.
Examining experiences of exiled activists unable to escape their country’s security services.
Looking at ways in which authoritarian regimes learn from each other & collaborate in repression.
Examining if major international institutions are meeting their human rights commitments in the FSU.
Examines key issues around asylum, extradition & the provision of refuge for activists from the FSU.
Today’s authoritarian actors, including powerful authoritarian states, can remotely surveil, threaten and harass individuals inside the United Kingdom (UK). The most frequently targeted are those within diaspora communities, students, activists,…
‘What does Russia want?’: this perennial question of the post-Cold War era has remained left, right, and centre of policymaking and analysis towards Moscow since the end of the Cold…
Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny’s return to Russia after his poisoning and subsequent jailing has elevated him in the eyes of the Western powers and he has become the number…
Transnational repression, commonly meaning the targeting of political opponents living abroad, is a phenomenon that in recent years has increasingly come to the attention of a global audience.[1] Due to…
Little more than a century ago, one of Russia’s most famous painters – an active participant in the imperial army’s conquest of Central Asia – caused a scandal in London’s…
It is commonly assumed that authoritarian governments do not wish to involve citizens in questions of governance or public administration. Instead, conventional wisdom has it that the leaders of such…
This publication examines the growing influence of illiberal, anti-Western and socially conservative civil society groups, popular movements and political forces in five post-Soviet states: Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova.…
Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli lived in self-imposed exile in Georgia from 2015-2017, but in May 2017 he was allegedly abducted in Tbilisi and forcibly transferred to a detention center in Azerbaijan. During…
As the history of structured and methodologically-based election observation is nearing its twenty-fifth anniversary, it seems that the time is ripe to take stock of the current state of play…
Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the outbreak of the Syrian war many of the received wisdoms and institutions that have underpinned international action 70 years are being shaken.…
The expert contributors to this essay collection describe an extremely challenging situation for political and NGO activists, along with other at-risk people from the former Soviet Union (FSU) who are…
The Council of Europe (CoE) and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are two regional bodies that bring together European, post-Soviet (and in the case of the OSCE)…
In 2014, Maksud Ibragimov, a 37 year old businessman from Tajikistan living in Russia established an organisation called Youth for the Revival of Tajikistan (Javonon Boroi Ehyohi Tojikiston).[1] He toured…
The information battle examines the ways in which the governments of former Soviet Union (FSU) look to shape international narratives about themselves by using media, social media, advertising and supportive…
This publication shows how repressive regimes from the former Soviet Union, most notably Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan operate outside their borders to challenge dissenting voices. The exiles and…
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…
This Foreign Policy Centre and Article 19 seminar seeks to examine the similarities and differences between the approach being taken by Russia, the UK and a number of EU member states in managing the online lives of their citizens. The event will explore ways to tackle challenges related to protection of freedom of expression online. The seminar will examine how Roskomnadzor, the Russian state censorship agency, operates a blacklist of websites and ...
More infoVicky Ford MP, Science and Technology Select Committee, APPG on Cyber Security
Sarkis Darbinyan, Co-Founder of Roskomsvoboda and Head of the Digital Rights Center
Alexander Isavnin, Internet Protection Society
Barbora Bukovska, Senior Director for Law and Policy, Article 19
James Ball, Author and Journalist
Chair: Ian Lucas MP, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
Committee Room 8, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
This Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) event, supported by the Justice for Journalists Foundation, will examine the safety risks faced by journalists searching for the truth against powerful interests. The event will focus on what steps can be taken to help prevent attacks on journalists, increase their security and find ways to deter those who would wish to stop their work through violent means. It will examine the main obstacles faced ...
More infoMaria Ordzhonikidze, Director of Justice for Journalists Foundation
Rebecca Vincent, UK Director of Reporters Without Borders and FPC Research Fellow
Lord George Foulkes, Council of Europe General Rapporteur on media freedom and the safety of journalists
Professor Philip Leach, Director, European Human Rights Advocacy Centre
Chair: Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP, former Culture Secretary and FPC Political Council Member
IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) Room, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA (Please note this is a room change from what was originally advertised)
The Foreign Policy Centre, Article 19 and the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis are organising a joint seminar to examine Russia’s use of counter-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation, looking at how civil society and the Council of Europe are concerned that this broadly written and often arbitrarily applied legislation is being used to stifle freedom of expression and restrict access to information. The seminar will also examine how the majority ...
More infoAlexander Verkhovsky, Director of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis in Moscow
Sarah Clarke,Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE19
Lord Anderson, the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
Chair: Fiona Bruce MP, Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission
Committee Room 16, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
The Foreign Policy Centre hosted a Westminster seminar to explore the current political situation in Hungary and Poland. This event comprised an expert panel discussion and the first UK presentation of a 35 min documentary film, ‘State Capture: The story of Hungary 1988-2018’. The event examined the growing concerns about rule-of-law (including judicial freedom), media freedom, protection of minorities, commitment to democratic pluralism and the rise of oligarchic elites, with both ...
More infoDr Gabor Scheiring, Research Fellow University of Cambridge
Dr Marcin Matczak, Associate Professor, Institute of State and Law Studies, University of Warsaw
Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President, The Open Dialogue Foundation
Chair: Alex Sobel MP
Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London, SW1A 2LW
The Foreign Policy Centre and the Richardson Institute at Lancaster University are holding this Westminster seminar to launch and debate the findings of a new publication entitled Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Struggle to Shape the Middle East, part of the Sectarianism, Proxies and De-Sectarianisation (SEPAD) project. The event and publication will look at how since the Arab Uprisings in late 2010 and the fragmentation of regime-society relations that followed, relationships ...
More infoFabian Hamilton MP, Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament
Dr Simon Mabon, Director of the Richardson Institute and SEPAD Project Leader, Lancaster University
Dr May Darwich, Assistant Professor, Durham University
Dr Edward Wastnidge, Lecturer, The Open University
Chair: Rt Hon Baroness Northover, Liberal Democrats Lead Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs- House of Lords
Listen to an audio recording of the event here.
Committee Room 6, House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA