Renew Democracy Initiative
@renewdemocracy.bsky.social
890 followers 12 following 160 posts
Defending democracy at home. Combating authoritarianism abroad. Highlighting how they’re connected. Check out Garry Kasparov's new Substack: https://thenextmove.substack.com/p/garry-kasparov-launching-the-next-move
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renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Defending democracy at home. Combating authoritarianism abroad. Highlighting how they’re connected.

✊ Find out how we’re teaming up with dissidents to protect freedom: rdi.org/frontlines-of-freedom/
🗞️ Subscribe to RDI's #DemocracyBrief: rdi.org/get-involved/
💌 Support our work: rdi.org/donate/
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI Senior Resident Fellow @jaynordlinger.bsky.social writes an appeal for free-speech consistency: What you want for yourself, you have to grant to the other guy.
We Need Free-Speech Consistency
What you want for yourself, you have to grant to the other guy.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
@garrykasparov.bsky.social on the National Guard in Chicago and Portland:
"The Kremlin moved security forces from the far reaches of the USSR to suppress dissent. Putin renewed that practice, shipping soldiers in from distant provinces to put down protests in Moscow."
Trump’s March on Chicago
Trump used a thin pretext to invade LA. Now he aims to send the National Guard into Chicago and Portland—just because he can.
www.thenextmove.org
Reposted by Renew Democracy Initiative
jaynordlinger.bsky.social
Jerome A. Cohen was the “dean” of China scholars in the U.S. He was also a great friend to dissidents and democrats. Jerry has passed away at 95. For The Next Move, the publication of @renewdemocracy.bsky.social, I have written an appreciation. www.thenextmove.org/p/a-scholar-...
A Scholar of China and a Friend to Its Persecuted
On Jerome A. Cohen, a great, and good, helmsman.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI Senior Fellow @jaynordlinger.bsky.social shares what he learned from Jerome A. Cohen—the "dean" of China scholars in the US, who died last week at 95—about the plight of the Uyghurs, China's influence in American academia, and prospects for Chinese democracy.
A Scholar of China and a Friend to Its Persecuted
On Jerome A. Cohen, a great, and good, helmsman.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI CEO @urielepshtein.bsky.social on Hegseth and Trump's speeches:

"Officers eat last. It’s both a very simple idea and a powerful model of leadership. Do you think the president is the kind of guy who eats last?"
Is Trump The Kind of Guy Who Eats Last?
On Hegseth and Trump’s speeches to the top brass and the idea of servant leadership.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Next Tuesday is the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks and the Gaza War.

To break down the situation, we're hosting a special US/Israel/Palestine Zoom call w/Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro, Ksenia Svetlova, and Samer Sinijlawi—next Tuesday (10/7) @ 5pm ET/2pm PT.
Exclusive Zoom Call Next Tuesday (10/7): How the Gaza War Went Global
A conversation featuring Palestinian, Israeli, and American perspectives.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI Chairman @garrykasparov.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com:
"The Constitution is a piece of paper. It is a remarkable and world-changing piece of paper, but its power has endured only because Americans have historically been willing to fight and die for the principles it codifies"
The Race to Save America’s Democracy
Trump’s administration may seem chaotic, but Americans should not take the integrity of next year’s elections for granted.
www.theatlantic.com
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
@garrykasparov.bsky.social on the Comey indictment:
"Bondi and Patel are now getting ready to become 'made men.' Losing power will soon become riskier than continuing to bend the law to Trump’s demands. Surrendering their position will mean exposure to consequences."
Comey Indictment: It’s Mafia Politics and Trump Is the Don
Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are on their way to becoming the president's "made men."
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
@jaynordlinger.bsky.social joins RDI and The Next Move.

Introducing Jay's inaugural piece, RDI's @garrykasparov.bsky.social writes:

"A free society needs both liberals and conservatives to sharpen each other’s thinking, solve important problems, and defend our institutions."
Fortune Favors the Bold
Welcoming Jay Nordlinger from the National Review to The Next Move as we build a bench of people defending freedom and democracy.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Andrei Sannikov on US concessions to the regime in Belarus: "The international community must resist the illusion of progress and instead adopt a strategy that recognizes Lukashenko’s tactics for what they are: hostage-taking at the state level."
A Cynical Game: How Belarus’s Pro-Russia Dictator Plays the West
Lukashenko is getting good press and sanctions relief. A Belarusian politician explains how the dictator does it—and how the Free World can stop losing.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI Chairman @garrykasparov.bsky.social: "Last night, apropos of nothing at all, I was thinking about how in Russia, you can’t go on television and make fun of the president or his favorites."
I Saw How Russia Killed Media Freedom
Censorship is central to the story of Russia’s descent into KGB dictatorship.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Charlie Kirk’s assassination has Russian propagandists downright giddy. It’s all fodder for a war being waged on social media.

@evangottesman.bsky.social covers RT's efforts to inflame chaos and division in the US—and he brings receipts:
The Russians Are Loving This
Charlie Kirk’s assassination and political violence in America have Russian propagandists downright giddy. It’s all fodder for a war being waged on social media.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
The pro-democracy camp needs a values-driven response to Trump's post-Kirk assassination crackdown.

Americans are tired of the tit-for-tat. Just pointing out the right's hypocrisy on free speech isn't enough.

Read @garrykasparov.bsky.social's latest: www.thenextmove.org/p/state-spon...
State-Sponsored Cancel Culture After the Kirk Assassination
The opposition needs a values-driven response to Donald Trump’s partisan exploitation of Charlie Kirk’s murder.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
RDI's @garrykasparov.bsky.social on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks:

"Next year will mark a quarter century since 9/11, yet millions the world over are still living with the consequences of Russian aggression enabled by American strategic blindness."
America’s Biggest Post-9/11 Failure Is Not What You Think
US leaders made strategic errors dealing with Russia after September 11. Their mistakes have deadly echoes in the present.
www.thenextmove.org
Reposted by Renew Democracy Initiative
mauricec.bsky.social
Heartfelt & heartbreaking. @renewdemocracy.bsky.social CEO Uriel Epshtein weaves together the personal tragedy inflicted on the Kirk family with the national horror of our descent into whatever place this is where we find ourselves. www.thenextmove.org/p/charlie-ki...
Charlie Kirk Was Murdered. Political Violence Is Surrender.
The shooting of Charlie Kirk at a Utah college today is a tragedy that endangers our democracy.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
"Violence is a sign that we are giving up...that every possible avenue for peacefully resolving our problems has been exhausted. Then politics becomes a question of survival of the fittest, and that’s very dangerous."

@urielepshtein.bsky.social on Charlie Kirk:
Charlie Kirk Was Murdered. Political Violence Is Surrender.
The shooting of Charlie Kirk at a Utah college today is a tragedy that endangers our democracy.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Soviet communist leaders with luxury Western cars.

Rich kids drinking in Tehran.

And now a germaphobic American president enabling the anti-vax movement for political gain.

The tradition of authoritarian hypocrisy.

Read @garrykasparov.bsky.social:
MAHA, Vaccines, and a Tradition of Authoritarian Hypocrisy
Comrade Brezhnev owned a Rolls-Royce and anti-vax-enabler Trump will get the jab. The leader never sacrifices like the people do.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
@evangottesman.bsky.social: The lesson from the Cracker Barrel fiasco is not about some “woke” conspiracy. It’s that when we chase fads, we run away from who we really are.

Right now, there's an impulse to try to beat MAGA by becoming MAGA.

This will never work.
Cracker Barrel and the War on American Authenticity
Everything in America looks the same and it's driving people crazy.
www.thenextmove.org
renewdemocracy.bsky.social
Germany in the 1930s.
Germany *today*.
France.
America.

Time and again, when people have a choice between between far-left and far-right, the far-right wins.

RDI Chairman @garrykasparov.bsky.social explains:
If It’s Far-Right vs. Far-Left, the Far-Right Wins
If people feel they’re being forced to choose between two extremes, the majority will always tack right.
www.thenextmove.org