Throughout Eurasia there has been an effort to promote a civil society and greater freedoms for its citizenry after the collapse of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Other citizens within Eurasia, for example, in Myanmar, Iran, Syria and North Korea, still have not realized their basic freedoms. 

The Eurasia Center’s Civil Society Program focuses on the important questions of our day - what is necessary to build institutions that encourage governments to provide basic freedoms, allow religious and ethnic toleration, while ensuring minority rights for its citizens. For example, the goal of creating a middle class - the mainstay of durable civil society, would be crucial within these nations. Another crucial goal would be building an honest and effective law enforcement system in countries where corruption exists in governing institutions. Instilling a positive civic ethos on all levels of the population is also an important requirement for reform, if the rule of law is to succeed, where political parties and the system insure protected secure democratic elections where candidates have a chance to run as representatives of a fair and equitable society. These critical aspects will bring the politics of positive participation, not a cycle of despair and civil war, or the polarization of the societies of each nation in today’s world, especially through social media.

A positive relationship between the federal government, local governments, and citizenry is also a fundamental goal of building a civil society. Civil society values the basic freedoms of man: freedom of association, freedom of expression, representative government, and respect for a diversity of ethnicities and religions among its members. A vigorous civil society is important for ensuring that the freedoms of the citizenry are preserved in times of crisis and change. The Eurasia Center's Civil Society Program evaluates real progress in building civil society made by nations in Eurasia. The Eurasia Center’s Civil Society Program is developing the Freedom Computer Network which connects activists and universities in order to exchange information on measuring progress within these nations.

Ukraine is now facing the most serious threats to its civil society by the invasion of Russia. It is a war that started by the Putin regime with a number of goals including forcing Ukraine out of the NATO partnership, however it includes Putin's plan to erase Ukraine, as a nation, from the map. This gross violation of international law coupled with the war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine amounts to genocide. After similar events in Syria, Russia once again is isolating itself from the international community and crushing all dissent against the war by imposing harsh penalties upon objectors within Russia.

The Eurasia Center’s Civil Society Program promotes religious and ethnic tolerance and seeks to educate and provide new alternatives toward stopping these negative trends developing in these areas. Protecting the rights of ethnic minorities constitutionally and providing religious freedom and ethnic toleration for citizens is one of the hallmark lessons of the American historical experience. By highlighting problems in Eurasia and providing new effective solutions, which promote religious and ethnic tolerance and minority rights, The Eurasia Center continues to be a positive force in changing attitudes within these nations. The Program for Civil Society’s focus from Europe to Asia and that of the Middle East, presents a host of challenging problems which our Civil Society specialists are addressing through our research and publications, as well as our activity in the field.