After changing the constitution in October 2015, and presiding over a deeply flawed election in March 2016, the old kleptocrat, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, remains faithful to old Maoist ideology: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

President Guelleh, one of the longest-ruling leaders in Africa, has become increasingly suspicious of his opponents at home, as well as journalists and human rights defenders who are seen as threats to his power. This is why he has once again violently targeted the country's main opposition party.

Since coming to power in 2015, President John Magufuli has remade Tanzania’s politics, its economy and society which has been breathtaking in scope and brutal in its execution. Magufuli has declared war on Tanzania’s multiparty democracy and term limits may be the next to go.

A good test for the health of a democracy is whether leaders leave office when the law says their time is up. In Guinea, this notion is being put to a severe test by President Alpha Condé and his efforts to stay in power past his constitutional mandate, which expires in October 2020.

Cameroon’s worsening humanitarian crisis is now threatening over four million people, and this week’s so-called “national dialogue” will most certainly deepen already entrenched divides.

In light of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, seven former U.S. Ambassadors have joined a chorus of high-ranking officials and pro-democracy advocates to call on Harvard University's Global Health Catalyst to rescind its honorary ambassadorship to First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa.

Not too long ago democracy scholars were extolling the virtues of liberation technology and describing how it would enable citizens to expand the horizons of freedom. Policymakers, however, underestimated the resilience of autocratic governments, in Africa and elsewhere.

Robert Mugabe was a brilliant man and a cunning political operator whose elaborate network of patronage and violent repression made him a cult-like figure who was both respected and feared. And the implications of his gross misrule in Zimbabwe will continue to be felt far and wide.

Constitutionally, state power is derived from the people of Malawi through open and transparent democratic choice. Its use and purpose are solely for the benefit of the people of this country. Credible and fair elections, therefore, form the bedrock of our democracy as a chosen system of government.

Dr. Susan Thomson, an assistant professor of peace and conflict studies at Colgate University, has written extensively on Rwanda -- its history, its political elites and current realities -- and this latest contribution is a formidable one. Our director Jeffrey Smith offers a candid assessment of this insightful and altogether daring book, recently published by Yale University Press.

Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera is one of the many in an increasingly long list of opposition leaders and activists, journalists, bloggers, businessmen and civic and religious leaders who have been targeted because of their political opinions.

In Africa's three most recent elections -- in Benin, Malawi and Mauritania -- ascendant leaders are seeking to consolidate authority, while trampling over the valid concerns and democratic aspirations of citizens.

We stand at a challenging time for democracy worldwide. Regardless of these pressures, we have seen that reality and truth still beats fake all over the world — which makes it crucially important for people to have real conversations on issues where they might not fully agree all the time.

Economic inequality is a problem across the world, but the extremes evident in Zimbabwe are in a select league of the extraordinary and the outrageous.

On this day forty-seven years ago, Cameroon ceased to be a federal republic and became instead a unitary state, essentially scrapping our 1961 constitution. May 20 is consequently a time in which Anglophones are reminded of this tragedy – the overall ruse that was employed to institutionalize the marginalization of their people.

Benin has long been considered a beacon of democracy on the African continent. However, following the parliamentary election that took place last month, there are valid and growing concerns that its democratic credentials are being eroded under President Patrice Talon.

I am asking that our international partners, media outlets and journalists, and fellow democrats worldwide to pay close attention to our election. I assure you that something is happening on the ground. Mauritanians are increasingly demanding and agitating for the democratic future that they deserve.

A healthy and sustainable democracy is absolutely essential for boosting the development prospects of a given country, including health and education indicators, as well as overall economic prospects. The sooner the donor world and its practitioners realizes this simple fact, the better.

The U.S. has been one of Tanzania's most consequential development partners since the earliest years of our independence in 1961. But all is not well, and this long-standing relationship is being severely compromised by increasing repression in Tanzania.

Instead of engaging in a much-needed dialogue with the political opposition, civil society, and Cameroon’s beleaguered business community, President Biya and the ruling cabal have doubled down. However, leaders in the United States, and elsewhere, have begun to speak up. This is no small feat.