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On 24 February we entered the third year of horrific Russian violence in Ukraine. Much of that violence has been indiscriminately targeted by the invader against civilians, residential buildings and Unesco cultural sites. In some cases, whole cities have been razed to the ground.

In Russia, meanwhile, Kremlin propaganda conjures false realities while new waves of repression target anyone who dares to criticise the war culminating, just before the invasions second anniversary, with the murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

As a Russian studies scholar, I have struggled with how to best approach my profession since the invasion began. I absolutely do not equate all Russians with the Kremlin, but the situation has called for a re-evaluation of how we study Russia and Russian culture in light of everything being done in its name.

Over time, I have come to view my classroom as a training ground for citizenship. In this context, I see my discipline as one of many that can and should loudly tell the story of authoritarianism. Understanding what authoritarians do to their subjects powerfully illuminates the meaning of citizenship, with its powers, privileges and inviolable function in the preservation of democracy.

The Kremlin targets individuals through arrests and fines, but also by banning books and silencing speech, eroding citizenship to the point that individuals no longer feel at liberty to exercise it freely. When that doesnt work, it resorts to violence. It poisoned Navalny in 2020, but he survived and returned to Russia in 2021 because he dreamed of democracy and balance of power, a realparliamentary system and an independent judiciary to boot.

Navalny knew citizenship and democracy within himself, even if the same could not be true of those who immediately imprisoned him for extremism, kept him in solitary confinement for 300 days, moved him toa colony in the Arctic Circle and, ultimately, killed him. Every time he faced his jailers, he spoke out against Putins regime and the war in Ukraine, amassing new criminal charges for simply behaving like a citizen with the right to free speech.

People in Moscow were arrested for putting flowers in Navalnys memory on the Solovetsky memorial stone that honours the victims of Russias distinctive history of repression. Yet as many as 16,500 attended his funeral, openly criticising Putin as they stood in line a rare manifestation of citizenship under the cover of mourning.

In a Russian higher education system that has long pulled out of the Bologna process and been stripped of even the most basic standards of academic freedom, these moments of historical significance can never be properly analysed or even mentioned. Education plays an essential role in both the preservation and the fall of democracy, so it should come as no surprise that Putin has taken an active interest in it.

Last autumn, the Kremlin effectively ended the teaching of liberal arts in Russia by closing the Smolny College of Liberal Arts in St Petersburg. Authoritarians have no use for a mode of education that fosters independent thinking among younger generations. Instead, Putin recently unveiled a mandatory sequence of ideological courses, the foundations of Russian statehood, which articulates the Kremlins view of history and aims to make Russias global isolation palatable through the construct of a distinctively Russian civilizational model that reeks of exceptionalism and unreality.

Because of this weaponisation of education by autocratic regimes, institutions of higher education in free countries must make preservation of democracy an intentional part of our teaching. And Putin is quite right that a liberal arts approach, founded on independent, non-ideological critical thinking may well be the best way to do so. Its multidimensional and individualised curricular flexibility requires students to participate in courses that, as well as offering the basics of disciplinary training, teach them to grapple independently with global issues such as the pitfalls of AI, the perils of climate change and the true significance of the decline or collapse of democracy.

While we in free countries often take democracy for granted, individuals living under authoritarianism sometimes write the most extraordinarily poignant tributes to it, which we would do very well to study. They offer first-hand accounts of how subjects are stripped of layers of citizenship, at times to the point of being reduced to what Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben calls bare life whose only defining characteristic is that it can be ended.

I spend a lot of time teaching ethics through stories, both true and fictional, historical and contemporary, that introduce tangible stakes. I want to keep sharing the writings of gulag survivorssuch as Varlam Shalamov and Evgenia Ginzburg, as well as the many war testimonials, poems and documentaries from Ukrainian writers and journalists that memorialise the Russian governments actions against Ukrainians. In addition to helping us understand the true face of authoritarianism and why democracy is worth fighting for these stories project the voices of individuals who have held on to their self-conception as citizens despite violent attempts to turn them into something less.

Memorialising testimonials of how authoritarianism infringes on our basic freedoms, dignity, ideals and even our very lives can impassion students to champion human rights, freedom and the broader citizenship of groups and individuals. Because, however enshrined it is in law, democracy is most vibrant when reinforced through individual understandings so personal that they enable citizens to almost instinctively recognise manifestations of its lack.

Ani Kokobobo is professor and chair of Slavic, German and Eurasian studies at the University of Kansas.

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Navalny's killing highlights the need for HE to help preserve democracy - Times Higher Education

Lets make a few things crystal clear right up front. First and foremost, green beer has always been a bad choice and is without any saving grace. I also doubt that even St. Patrick in his prime could drive all the political snakes out of todays Washington. The history of St. Patricks Day itself is not without major warts particularly regarding who could and couldnt participate.

But despite these caveats, I believe there is something about Americas version of the holiday that embodies strengths our nation can and should lean into particularly going into a high-stakes, take-no-prisoners election year.

This suggestion isnt coming from a rabid St. Patricks Day fan. Growing up with a distinctly Irish name, I was ambivalent at best about a holiday that reinforced so many caricatures and myths. As a kid (with a big dose of adolescent snark) I would say it was my job to be Irish 364 days a year and March 17 was my one day off. I also saw many efforts to define Americans by ethnic, religious or racial differences doing more to fuel divisions than to build healthy pride.

As time went by, Ive softened my view. What brought that about? Part of it was learning more about history. Weve been at this in America for a very long time in fact our first St. Patricks Day parades took place well before the Declaration of Independence was signed. First as a reflection of Irish pride (and sometimes defiance), over the centuries they have become more welcoming. Like the greatest aspects of the American story itself, more and more people have been allowed to participate both as parade marchers and celebrants.

This hasnt come easily (it never does) and even involved a landmark Supreme Court case concerning access for LGBTQ groups. Today it can feel like the Supreme Court decides everything, but while that decision actually affirmed the right to restrict parade participation it wasnt the final word. What turned the tide was changing attitudes and the willingness of political and business leaders to stand up for pitching a bigger tent.

As important to changing my attitude was personally witnessing several St. Patricks Day miracles. These included a longstanding breakfast tradition in Boston that features Republicans and Democrats putting aside their differences and making jokes rather than scoring political points. Humor is a really important part of the St. Patricks Day magic. Punch lines that are bitter and come at the expense of others feed our collective anxiety and anger. Laughing at ourselves and with each other is what heals and builds bridges.

Ive also attended multiple parades including a big one in my conservative Florida town where Ive seen a cross-section of Americans joyfully marching and cheering each other on. Celebrating anything as a community is a very beautiful and powerful thing and all too rare in todays America.

The sad fact is that navigating holidays has become much too complex and politized lately. We now need to walk on eggshells when we sincerely offer best wishes for example, the whole Merry Christmas vs. Happy holidays thing. To date, St. Patricks Day has been spared and its really important we keep it that way. There are no sides to take, nobody is keeping score, and it isnt about red and blue its just about different and often crazy shades of green that are almost invariably unflattering. Just come as you are to celebrate Irish culture and/or the coming of spring. Its an example of what America can be at its most authentically exceptional and unpretentious.

We desperately need to expand the number of special days like this when we put aside us vs. them thinking and come together. We need days where we can wear silly stuff, not talk politics, and celebrate the contributions of different members of the American family. This attitude and the values behind it should have an important role to play every single day.

For example, I can envision Election Day as a celebration of these aspects of the American character. Sure we will vote for different candidates, but we could also see it as an opportunity to express shared gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy and for those who sacrificed so much to secure them for us. The bottom line is that St. Patricks Day shows were capable of celebrating together without putting our differences, frustrations and anger front and center. If we can pull that off (albeit imperfectly) for even one day, it means we can do it more often. I sincerely believe that for the American experiment to survive and thrive we need to find the wisdom and courage to do just that.

By the way, if our toxic politics is making you consider green beer or even something stronger to deaden the pain, try Citizen Connect first. Its a nonpartisan online platform I co-founded that puts 600 organizations dedicated to finding common ground at your fingertips.

___

(The Fulcrum covers whats making democracy dysfunctional and efforts to fix our governing systems. Sign up for our newsletter at thefulcrum.us. The Fulcrum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news platform covering efforts to fix our governing systems. It is a project of, but editorially independent from, Issue One.)

2024 The Fulcrum. Visit at thefulcrum.us. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Commentary: Can St. Patrick and green beer save American democracy? - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

Statement by Secretary General Marija Pejinovi Buri on the occasion of the finalisation of the Convention

This first-of-a-kind treaty will ensure that the rise of Artificial Intelligence upholds Council of Europe legal standards in human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its finalisation by our Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) is an extraordinary achievement and should be celebrated as such.

It sets out a legal framework that covers AI systems throughout their lifecycles, from start to end.

While this treaty has been elaborated by the Council of Europe with like-minded international partners, it will be a global instrument, open to the world. After its adoption by our Committee of Ministers in the coming weeks, countries from all over the world will be eligible to join it and meet the high ethical standards it sets.

The text strikes the right regulatory balance precisely because it has benefitted from the input of governments and experts, and industry and civil society. We thank all of those partners for their contribution and delivering this seminal text. We are convinced that, once adopted, this treaty will bring everyone together in appreciation of its impact.

* * *

The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law has been finalised yesterday by the Council of Europe Committee on Artificial Intelligence. The draft text will be referred to the Committee of Ministers for adoption and opened for signature at a later stage.

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Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Framework Convention - Council of Europe

Senate Majority PAC, an independent group aligned with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), is spending $2.7 million to elevate Donald Trumps pick a fellow 2020 election denier in a three-way Republican primary on Tuesday. The idea is to help the candidate, former luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno, because he would be the easiest GOP nominee for incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to defeat in the fall.

Its a replay of the cynical tactic Democrats employed in the 2022 midterm elections. Then, they spent more than $53 million across nine states primaries to boost far-right Republican House candidates who had questioned or denied the validity of Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 election, as well as MAGA-inclined gubernatorial candidates in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Theres no question it paid off: Democrats hold several House seats they might not have otherwise and won all three governorships. Theres also no question it reeked powerfully, and enduringly, of hypocrisy. Who knows why so many Americans still back Mr. Trump despite his evident lies about 2020? But maybe one small part of the reason is that Democratic operatives keep manipulating the issue for short-term political advantage.

Mr. Moreno wasnt always an election denier. He urged his social media followers to accept the results in late 2020 and tweeted on Jan. 6, 2021, that Mr. Trump deserved lots and lots of blame for this. But then he decided to run for office. President Trump says the election was stolen, and hes right, Mr. Moreno said in a commercial during a short-lived 2022 bid for the Senate. More recently, hes called those prosecuted for storming the Capitol political prisoners.

The Democratic commercial doesnt mention any of that. Nominally, its an attack ad because it calls Mr. Moreno too conservative and mentions his support for a national abortion ban and repealing Obamacare. But those points appeal to GOP base voters. Moreno would lead the charge to enact Trumps MAGA agenda, a narrator says. The spot says that the former president calls Mr. Moreno exactly the type of MAGA fighter that we need. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC said in a statement that Ohioans deserve to know the truth about Bernie Moreno.

In the Ohio race, state Sen. Matt Dolan would be the strongest Republican candidate against Mr. Brown in November. Hes a governance-minded conservative in the mold of former senator Rob Portman and Gov. Mike DeWine, who both endorse his bid. (Mr. Dolans father owns the Cleveland Guardians; one reason Mr. Trump has attacked the son is that the baseball team changed its name from the Indians.) Mr. Dolan would likely be a vote in the Senate for aiding Ukraine, which has a large diaspora in Ohio, while Mr. Moreno is critical of sending any more money. So the Democratic push for Mr. Moreno flies in the face of the partys position on that crucial issue, too.

Polling shows the GOP primary within the margin of error, with Mr. Dolan opening a slight lead and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose in a distant third. In a general election matchup, Mr. Brown leads Mr. Moreno but trails Mr. Dolan.

To repeat: Senate Majority PACs sole job is winning elections, so its rational for it to intervene in favor of Mr. Moreno. The $2.7 million buy is a drop in the ocean of likely spending on what could be this cycles most expensive Senate race. The group plans to air $65 million of television ads in Ohio during the general election while its Republican rival, Senate Leadership Fund, plans to spend $57.5 million.

But Senate Majority PACs tactics clash grotesquely with President Bidens portrayal of the 2024 stakes in this months State of the Union address: January 6th and the lies about the 2020 election, and the plots to steal the election, posed the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War, he declared. Mr. Biden said those who stormed the Capitol placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy, adding: The threat remains, and democracy must be defended. The president called on lawmakers to respect free and fair elections, restore trust in our institutions, and make clear political violence has absolutely no place in America.

Mr. Trump has twice carried Ohio by eight points. The Moreno campaign points out that many Democrats assumed Mr. Trump would be the easiest Republican for Hillary Clinton to defeat in 2016. Whoever wins Tuesdays primary even Mr. Moreno has a real chance of sitting in the Senate a year from now. Democrats should be careful what they wish for.

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Opinion | Democratic ads to help Bernie Moreno win Ohio GOP Senate primary reek of hypocrisy - The Washington Post - The Washington Post

The months surrounding the 2022 midterm elections in Arizona were like a powderkeg. The Grand Canyon State was the epicenter of election conspiracy theories in 2020, fueled by former President Donald Trump and his allies. And in 2022, the fervor on the right over another stolen election based on categorically false allegations of mass voter fraud reached a boiling point.

In the days after Arizonas primary election in August of 2022, an Alabama man left a string of violent, threatening direct messages to an Instagram account maintained by Maricopa County Elections, according to a recently unsealed indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice. [Y]ou people are so ducking [sic] stupid. Everyone knows you are lots [sic], cheats, frauds and in doing so in relation to elections have committed treason. You will all be executed. Bang [expletive]! one message said.

Months later, during the general election in November of 2022, a California man got hold of a Maricopa County election officials cell phone number and, the day after the county certified the 2022 election results declaring Democrat Katie Hobbs the winner in the hotly contested gubernatorial race he left a voicemail. You wanna cheat our elections? You wanna screw Americans out of true votes? Were coming, [expletive]. Youd better [expletive] hide, he said, according to another recently unsealed DOJ indictment.

And in Georgia, two election workers sued Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for promoting election conspiracy theories in 2020 that directly led to harassment and death threats. I was afraid for my life, one of the workers said in a testimony, according to NPR. I literally felt that someone would attempt to hang me and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Giuliani was found liable and ordered to pay $148 million to the two workers.

These werent isolated incidents but rather part of a growing, unfortunate trend in the last few election cycles: political violence particularly threats to election workers and public officials is surging. The 2020 and 2022 elections saw a sharp rise in violence and threats of violence against election workers:more than 40% of state legislators experienced threats or attacks in the past three years, and more than 18% experienced them within the past year and a half, according to a recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice. As we barrel head first into the thick of the 2024 election, all signs indicate the problem hasnt gone away.

Given everything we know about this alarming trend, are state and local election officials adequately prepared to handle threats of violence and another barrage of misinformation and conspiracy theories that pose an existential threat to the election process? Democracy Docket spoke to extremism researchers and experts from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), the Program on Extremism at George Washington University (GWU), Princeton Universitys Bridging Divides Initiative and Georgetown Laws Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection about the biggest threats to the 2024 election and whats being done to address them.

Theres one thing that Shannon Hiller, the executive director of the Bridging Divide Initiative, wants people to know: voting and participating in the electoral process in the United States, especially compared to the rest of the world, is extremely safe. Weve had some really tense elections, she told Democracy Docket. But even just looking at 2022, a lot of the work that election officials, civil society has done to make sure that voting is still incredibly secure and safe in this country, is continuing to work.

At the same time, the risk of violence toward election workers, and those participating in the electoral practice, is higher than its been in decades. A recent report from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska Omaha examined every single federally investigated threat toward a public official over the past 10 years and found that 2022 and 2023 had the highest number of threats in that time period. The data, according to the authors of the report, reflects a growing public acceptance of and tolerance for political violence attitudes that threaten U.S. institutions and weaken democracy.

Election workers and elected officials have found themselves on the receiving end of threats and intimidation fairly consistently, Mary McCord, the executive director of Georgetown Laws ICAP, told Democracy Docket. But obviously, it gets worse in the lead up to an election and then right after an election And I think, right now, theres no real reason to think that its going to be significantly different.

Thats especially true after the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Since then, the rise in extremist violence profoundly changed how many people feel about voting. A 2022 poll commissioned by GPAHE found that only 41% of Americans feel safe at polling places, due to the steady rise of mass shootings, political and racial divisions and extremist violence and rhetoric.

Heidi Beirich, the co-founder and chief strategy officer of GPAHE, told Democracy Docket that shes preparing for a rise in threats, and possibly violence, this election season. Emotions are going to be running so high that we have to expect violence of some sort to result ultimately, unfortunately, she predicted.

The threat of violence from far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers were of grave concern in the 2020 and 2022 elections and, while such groups are still active, extremist researchers arent as worried about what they might do. In 2021, we saw Proud Boys showing up in all kinds of school board meetings and things like this, and just basically threatening people, Beirich said. I think thats a real possibility. I also think lone wolf violence somebody whos just not happy about the direction things are going, that might be a serious problem.

Jon Lewis, a research fellow at GWUs Program on Extremism, shares that concern. I think the biggest thing that has been the case since Jan. 6, consistently from the extremism space, is that the threat is the network, he told Democracy Docket. Its not about these individual organizations or groups its this coalitional kind of culture war narrative.

The network Lewis is referring to is the conservative outrage machine, with Trump in the drivers seat and the far-right media in the passenger seat amplifying whatever hateful rhetoric and call to action hes spewing on any given day. Lewis points to some of the people arrested for acts of violence on Jan. 6 as prime examples of what such rhetoric can drive people to. Its not so much the members of extremist groups that stick out to him, but the ordinary people like the yoga teacher from California, or the Texas real estate agent who were incited by Trumps words to violently storm the U.S. Capitol.

They were the ones who, when push comes to shove, they were told day after day, month after month, year after year, that those people over there in [the Capitol] are not your people. That they are less than you because they hate America, they hate what you stand for. They hate this country. Theyre trying to take what is yours and you have to fight, Lewis explained. Its an emotional message and it taps into these root primal fears. This is the right-wing media ecosystem that has been pumping out day after day, week after week.

As the GOP officially declares Trump as their presumptive nominee for the November election, theres no indication that the former president is holding back on making incendiary comments to rile up his base. He keeps promoting conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election, parroting language used by Adolf Hitler to describe the immigration crisis and has claimed that President Joe Biden is conspiring to overthrow the country. The cumulative effect of Trumps rhetoric especially as the election draws closer is what worries Lewis.

All it takes is the eye of this right-wing rage machine to target some election worker in Georgia, some state election official in a purple state like Pennsylvania or Michigan, where weve seen these conspiracies pop up time and time again.

As was the case in 2020 and 2022, the states on high alert for potential violence this election season are swing states. States like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where the race between Biden and Trump is expected to be razor thin and could ultimately decide the outcome of the election. With all eyes on just a handful of states, theres concern that state and local officials might not be prepared for whatever potential threats may develop.

But a lot of states have taken necessary steps in the past few years to secure their elections, and effectively respond to threats of violence. Plus, as McCord noted, theres been a lot of turnover of election workers and volunteers between this election and previous ones.

Those coming in, I think are coming in clear eyed and steely, with resolve about what they need to do, and that they may, depending on where theyre at in the country, have to be prepared for intimidation and threats and things like that, she told Democracy Docket. But I think in a lot of places, theres just a lot more support now than in previous elections.

Through their organizations, both Hiller and McCord train state and local officials for best practices to assess potential election threats and how to address them. Some of it is about just helping them to better understand the specific types of concerns and trends around political violence or threats, Hiller said of the work she does in these training sessions. And a lot of it is about helping to support them continue to do the work that theyre doing, while understanding the nature of political violence, threats and how to get ahead of it.

Most importantly, though, is that a high number of states have passed legislation since the midterm elections aimed specifically at protecting election workings and the voting process. That includes legislation in 12 states and Washington, D.C. to ban possessing firearms near polling places, as well as other laws to either make it illegal or increase the penalties for harassing poll workers, including doxxing, making threats of violence and interfering with their duties. Since 2022, 15 states have passed laws to protect public officials and election workers and at least 26 states have introduced new legislation, according to Public Citizen.

My sense is, for example, here in Georgia that the election infrastructure is pretty strong, says Beirich. And given the sort of hell that Trump put them through in 2020, they realize what the possibilities are.

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Combating Threats to Election Workers Ahead of the 2024 Election - Democracy Docket