Rethinking Democracy

Iran is once again at a boiling point.   For more than a week, nationwide protests have shaken the country, with tens of thousands pouring into the streets of major cities, including Tehran. As calls for the regime's removal spread, authorities responded with internet blackouts and force. Videos show government buildings ablaze across multiple cities, while human rights groups report at least 28 protesters killed since late December.   These are the largest demonstrations Iran has seen since 2022, when the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody ignited a nationwide uprising. This time, the unrest comes as the Islamic Republic is unusually exposed—still reeling from a bruising 12-day war with Israel last summer. What does this moment mean for the regime's survival? How is this wave of protests different from those that came before? And is there anything the outside world can do to support Iran's pro-democracy movement without backfiring?   On today's episode of Rethinking Democracy, we dig into what may come next—for Iran's rulers and for the millions of Iranians challenging them.   Recorded January 9, 2026

The Trump administration has released its new National Security Strategy—and analysts say it signals a decisive break from America's role as the leader of the free world. Instead, the document advances an openly illiberal, strongman-centered vision of power. One former U.S. official goes further, arguing the strategy doesn't merely abandon democracy promotion—it puts Washington in the business of promoting autocracy.   Democracy and human rights are pushed aside. Allies are treated more harshly than autocrats. The concern is that this shift will accelerate democratic erosion at home while giving authoritarian leaders abroad a freer hand.   So how deep is the crisis in American democracy? Is Trump's America now exporting autocracy? And what responsibility do other democracies have to push back—both within their own borders and toward the United States?   In this episode of Rethinking Democracy, we unpack America's democratic decline—and what the rest of the democratic world should do about it.   Today's guest is Dr. Amanda Sloat, Professor of Practice at IE University in Madrid and a former senior US government official.   Recorded December 10, 2025

Thousands of Tunisians marched in the capital last week against what they called 'injustice and repression,' accusing President Kais Saied of cementing one-man rule through the police and judiciary. The protest is part of a wider wave of unrest—journalists, NGOs, fractured political parties, doctors, bankers, and transport workers all say Saied has turned the country into an open-air prison and demand relief from Tunisia's deepening political and economic crisis.   Fourteen years after Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation ignited the Arab Spring and briefly made Tunisia its brightest democratic hope, the country has slid back into autocracy under Saied's rule. In today's episode, we'll unpack why Tunisia's democratic transition derailed—and what the future holds for the country's pro-democracy voices.   Our guest is Dr. Youssef Chahed, a Senior Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative who served as Prime Minister of Tunisia from 2016 to 2020.   Recorded November 26, 2025

Iraqis have just gone to the polls in a pivotal parliamentary election that could redefine the country's political trajectory. What do the results tell us about the state of Iraqi democracy? What happens next? And is there still space for meaningful democratic reform? In this episode of Rethinking Democracy, Gonul Tol speaks with Renad Mansour, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House and Director of the Iraq Initiative, to unpack the election's aftermath, Iraq's deeply fragmented political landscape, and the entrenched system of corruption, elite bargaining, and ethno-sectarian power sharing. Recorded November 14, 2025

For years, Israeli populist politicians have chipped away at the country's democratic guardrails. But the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 accelerated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's drive to consolidate power. The kind of societal pushback that once blocked his efforts to expand executive authority is now under severe strain. Israel's multi-front conflict with Iran, Hamas, and other Iranian proxies has blunted protest movements and sidelined those who once filled the streets in defense of democracy. Defending checks and balances has been eclipsed by wartime priorities.   Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst and fellow at Century International, and author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise Unfulfilled, joins host Gönül Tol to discuss how the October 7 attacks have transformed Israel's political landscape, and what the future may hold for its democracy.