Democracy Lab Says Goodbye

  • By Christian CarylChristian Caryl is the editor of Democracy Lab, published by Foreign Policy in conjunction with the London-based Legatum Institute. A former reporter at Newsweek, he's also the author of Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and a contributing editor at the National Interest. , Ilya LozovskyIlya Lozovsky is assistant editor of Democracy Lab. Prior to joining Foreign Policy, he worked as program officer for Eurasia at Freedom House, providing emergency support to human rights activists and organizations across that continent.
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Democracy Lab Says Goodbye

Dear Democracy Lab readers,

All good things must come to an end. After five wonderful years, Democracy Lab is ceasing publication. We’ve had a great run, and we’re extremely grateful for our partnership with Foreign Policy and to all of you for sticking with us.

When we launched, popular uprisings in the Arab world had just awakened hopes that a new age of freedom was in the offing. Democracy Lab was committed to covering the ugly as well as the promising — but all in all, it seemed as though democracy was on the march.

A lot has changed since then. Today, liberal values are under threat like never before, even in countries where their victory had been taken for granted. For that reason, we believe that our mission — to cover both the perils and the promise of democracy — is more urgent than ever. That’s why we’re not saying goodbye forever. Though our funders at the Legatum Institute have decided to go in a different direction, we hope to find new support and to continue the project under new auspices, reimagined for a new and troubled era.

We’ve greatly valued all your feedback, criticism, and support, and we look forward to staying in touch in the years to come. So please don’t hesitate to reach out to Christian Caryl and Ilya Lozovsky at any time. We’d love to hear from you.

Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and an interesting year ahead.

Best regards,

Christian Caryl
Editor

Ilya Lozovsky
Assistant Editor

 

Photo credit: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images