Essay
2023
We Need People Power to Address a World in Peril
By Hardy Merriman
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About the book
The world confronts three grave and interrelated crises. Authoritarianism has been rising worldwide for nearly two decades. Climate change has been increasingly studied and publicly foretold since the 1970s. Rising violent conflict and insecurity are a predictable result of autocratic waves and climate chaos.
In this essay, the essential role of movements countering authoritarianism, climate change, and violent conflict are outlined, with commentary on how institutional allies can better enable and support them.
Also in
French
Written for
Activists
About the authors
Hardy Merriman
For over 20 years, Hardy Merriman has focused on pro-democracy movements fighting authoritarian governments and democratic backsliding around the world.
He is former President & CEO of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC); led the Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave project as a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; served as a senior technical advisor to the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Powered by the People program; and was an adjunct lecturer at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
His recent publications include Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy (2026); Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence (HOPE) (2024), Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian Threat (2023), and We Need People Power to Address a World in Peril (2023).
