Blog Post Nov 20, 2025 The three-body problem How much does North Korea depend on China and Russia for its future? Rachel Minyoung Lee on nuclear weapons, technology transfers, and a newly emboldened Kim Jong Un.
Blog Post Nov 10, 2025 HRF Freedom Fellowship Spotlight with Shely Andriamihaja Since September 25, the Gen Z movement in Madagascar has launched massive protests, initially sparked by widespread frustration over constant power cuts and water shortages in the capital, Antananarivo. However…
Blog Post Nov 3, 2025 Inside the prison state What’s it like to live in North Korea? Yumi Kim on heavy repression, secret phone calls, and virtual private networks.
Blog Post Oct 31, 2025 The way of Kim Jong Un How is political upheaval in South Korea affecting North Korea? Soo Kim on what’s driving Pyongyang’s increasing hostility toward Seoul.
Blog Post Oct 28, 2025 Obscured by clouds Why does North Korea keep threatening South Korea and its allies without ever going to war? Michael Breen on theater and reality in one of the most enigmatic places on Earth.
Blog Post Oct 6, 2025 The Riyadh job Fifty comedians playing in Saudi Arabia, millions of dollars, and one head-scratcher: Why are they doing this?
Blog Post Aug 26, 2025 The Sculptor Xi Jinping Wants You to Forget For 68-year-old Gao Zhen, last Aug. 26 wasn’t just any other day — it was the day of his arrest.
Blog Post Aug 22, 2025 The Blurry Lines Between Private and Public As a human rights organization, we see economic freedom as inseparable from political and civil freedoms. The freer world we live in today owes much to the expansion of international trade and capital flows. But while economic openness has…
Blog Post Aug 11, 2025 A ‘known unknown’ Where’s all the money coming into American think tanks from? Ben Freeman on the enormous foreign-government “donations” flowing through Washington, D.C.
Blog Post Jul 31, 2025 Tracking CBDCs before they track you Nicholas Anthony Policymakers around the world have become consumed with the idea of launching central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. Prior to 2019, only a small handful of central banks were exploring this idea. Yet, today,…
Blog Post Jun 25, 2025 Connections What does financial repression in autocracies have to do with financial freedom in democracies? Justin Callais on human flourishing in the modern world.
Blog Post Jun 23, 2025 House money Why are countries around the world developing virtual legal tenders? Roger Huang on the origins, implementation, and implications of central bank digital currencies.
Blog Post Jun 19, 2025 Untouchable Why has Bitcoin become so popular with dissidents living in dictatorships? Farida Nabourema on what the emerging technology has in common with an old suitcase stuffed with cash.
Blog Post Jun 18, 2025 Cash Grab What is financial repression? Félix Maradiaga on how autocratic regimes are using the global banking system, international law, and new technologies in an old struggle to suppress dissent and hold power.
Blog Post Jun 6, 2025 Bitcoin Development Fund 5 year Report The Bitcoin Development Fund 5 Year Report marks five years of impact through the Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF), which has awarded over $8.5 million in BTC to nearly 300 projects across 62 countries.
Blog Post May 6, 2025 My Reflections on Bitcoin as Freedom Money in Thailand & Burma My name is Win Ko Ko Aung, and I am a global bitcoin adoption fellow at HRF. I help nonprofits operating under authoritarian regimes explore Bitcoin as a tool for financial freedom.
Blog Post May 2, 2025 Responsible Finance: Why Political Systems Should Matter to Investors International trade and investment reshaped the world for the better. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, economic openness has reduced poverty on a global scale, brought prosperity to nations from Poland to South Korea, and improved quality of life for hundreds of millions.
Blog Post Apr 14, 2025 How China Uses Financial Repression to Erase the Uyghur People Rushan Abbas has spent years fighting for the freedom of her people, the Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic group in the Uyghur Region, located in northwest China.
Blog Post Mar 28, 2025 ‘It’s a hydra’ What can democracies do about autocratic interference? Josh Rudolph on the challenges of resistance and resiliency.
Blog Post Mar 24, 2025 Enigmas What exactly is the problem here? Justin Callais on the ambiguities of corruption.
