China’s economic model, commonly described as “state capitalist,” is now better characterized as party-state capitalism, in which the political survival of the Communist Party trumps developmental goals. Its tools for managing the economy include not only state ownership and market interventions, but increasing use of party-state power to discipline private capital. China’s entrepreneurs are now expected to adhere to the party line, as are foreign corporations operating in the country. The shift is fueling a backlash from foreign governments that view the fusion of state and private interests in China as a threat to their own national security.

“Social credit redirects the power of data away from markets and strengthens the state's ability to comprehensively control behavior.” First in a series on ways of governing .

What do consumer rights actually mean in a context in which citizens are unsure whether there is even a functioning judicial system …?

“The region has seen a radical shift from widespread unemployment to labor shortages, a historic expansion in higher-education opportunities, and unprecedented mass migration to the West.” Seventh in a series on social mobility around the world .

Nations that endured communist dictatorships must come to terms with the traumas of the past before durable democracies can take hold—a lesson the author learned firsthand in Romania.

“The fall of the Soviet Union sparked hopes that a Russian middle class would emerge and thrive, but so far it has not.” Second in a series on social mobility around the world .

Policies chosen by Putin, not innate forces of history, culture, or tradition, pushed Russia in a more autocratic direction …

[S]tudies have revealed a high level of intergenerational transfer of class and social status, privileged and otherwise.

Will Xi Jinping's increasingly authoritarian rule stifle innovation by local officials, which has been instrumental in the Chinese communist regime's resilience and economic success?

The one bright light in this darkening landscape is that Poles remain committed to democracy.

Two books offer different takes on everyday life in Bulgaria since 1989, one a lament for the loss of social solidarity, the other a lyrical portrait of a wild frontier region.

Russia continues to be caught between a need to integrate itself into the West and a desire to maintain its independence from the West.

The Soviet Union was an empire within which nations old and new developed, changed, and eventually became self-sufficient enough to opt out.

A veteran journalist explores the surprisingly varied and vibrant array of religious groups that are now thriving in a country that is officially atheist but searching for something to believe in.

After the fall of communism, the restructuring of labor became an integral part of the larger project of building democracy and markets.

In Hungary and Poland, populist leaders with authoritarian tendencies have drawn on the cynical power-holding playbooks of the old communist regimes whose traces they vowed to erase.

Workers form the exemplary class of economic, social, and psychological ‘losers’ of the postcommunist transition.

‘Transition’ is clearly much harder than it was immediately after the collapse of communism in 1989—91, now that the West is weaker and Russia is not only stronger but committed to keeping its neighbors weak.

The Ottoman and Russian empires clashed for centuries, but Turkey's recent embrace of its imperial legacy has not emboldened it to challenge Moscow over the annexation of Crimea.

There are signs that Moscow may now seek to halt Armenia's deepening of ties with NATO and target Armenian reformers.