Theodore Sedgwick Distinguished Lecture Series – Between Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia: Opportunities, Challenges, and the United States’ Changing Role

The 2026 Annual Lecture on Asian Democracy is co-sponsored with the Center for Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville and presented by the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute in collaboration with the Filson Historical Society.

Autocrats across Asia are using both old tricks and new technologies to tighten their grips on power, while societies including Bangladesh and Nepal have experienced popular uprisings that demanded democracy and fundamental change. As these battles play out, the roles taken by youth and technology have moved to the forefront, while the dynamics of Russia and China moving into spaces ceded by the United States have had momentous impacts on democratic trajectories in countries all over Asia.

What are democracy’s prospects in Asia, as autocrats advance and populations seek to reverse those tides?  What are the impacts of cuts to democracy assistance by the United States and other key donors reducing and reprioritizing their aid budgets?  Most importantly, how can pro-democracy forces in Asia and their supporters and allies around the world, counter authoritarianism and build momentum amid so many challenges and threats?

Anthony “Tony” Banbury joined the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) as President and Chief Executive Officer on November 1, 2018. Prior to joining IFES, Banbury worked for the UN for 20 years in a variety of roles both at UN headquarters in New York and in the field.