Freedom House has just released its latest edition of “Freedom in the World,” and 2006 doesn’t look to have been a good year for the advancement of freedom. In fact, in many cases, freedom has declined significantly in areas where just a couple of years ago great gains were being heralded. In it’s press release, Freedom House notes where exactly this is happening, and why.

The year 2006 saw little change in the global state of freedom in the world and the emergence of a series of worrisome trends that present potentially serious threats to the expansion of freedom in the future, Freedom House said in a major survey of global freedom released today.

Freedom in the World 2007, a survey of worldwide political rights and civil liberties, found that the percentage of countries designated as Free has remained flat for nearly a decade and suggests that a ???????freedom stagnation??????? may be developing.

The continued weakness of democratic institutions????????even after holding democratic elections????????in a number of countries continues to hamper further progress. ???????Although the past 30 years have seen significant gains for political freedom around the world, the number of Free countries has remained largely unchanged since the high point in 1998. Our assessment points to a freedom stagnation that has developed in the last decade,??????? said Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director of Freedom House, ???????and should lead to renewed policy attention to addressing the obstacles that are preventing further progress.???????

Regionally, major findings include a setback for freedom in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, a more modest decline in Africa, and a solidification of authoritarian rule in the majority of countries of the former Soviet Union. Three countries experienced positive status changes: Guyana moved from Partly Free to Free, and Haiti and Nepal moved from Not Free to Partly Free. Two countries experienced negative status changes: both Thailand and Congo (Brazzaville) moved from Partly Free to Not Free.

Freedom House also noted that the trends reflected the growing pushback against democracy driven by authoritarian regimes, including Russia, Venezuela, China, Iran, and Zimbabwe, threatening to further erode the gains made in the last thirty years. The pushback is targeted at organizations, movements, and media that advocate for the expansion of democratic freedoms.

At the end of the Cold War, state totalitarianism was supposed to be on the decline with liberal democracy the only feasible form of government. In reality the majority of the world was left with tinpot governments either on the brink of collapse or just on the edge of developing prosperity. Those who experienced the greatest leap to democracy were those most affected by the 20th century’s worst imperialist evil — the communist Soviet Union. Central and South Europe reformed, albeit with a little help from the West, and are now full-fledged democratic and prosperous countries.

Many others, however, were either left hanging in the wind or doomed to continued influence from Russia or China. In Latin America, the odds have always been against you, but some stars like Chile have arisen. In Asia, South Korea and Japan have fought to the top. Yet these are just a few examples among many failures. Unfortunately, while many gains in development have been made all over the world in even the past 30 years, political stagnation has taken hold.

Yet even where we have thought it impossible, such as Eastern Europe, some countries have been able to shrug off the yoke of corrupt and repressive authoritarian rule. In 2000, Serbia overthrew Slobodan Milosevic in a people power revolution. In 2003, Georgia overthrew its Russia-backed president in what has come to be known as the Rose Revolution, and Ukraine did the same thing during the Orange Revolution of 2004. Elections and political reforms all over the Arab middle east. Colored revolutions were everywhere, and once again the spread of democracy seemed to be going strong. Inevitable, even.

As Samuel Huntington might say, it was the Fourth Wave, where democracy seemed to flow across borders. And watch out! If you’re a corrupt dictator and your buddy next door goes under, you might be next.

That’s why, in 2006, we have a year of stagnation, and even significant decline, in freedom around the world. It is not simply a trend among certain countries either. Authoritarian government of very powerful countries such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran are actively seeking to put their influence to as much use as possible in order to ensure that freedom and democracy no longer spreads near their borders.

Russia is consolidating absolute control over energy from Europe to the Orient, and using it to cause political upheavel in its favor. Iran is spreading its Shia revolution through the bayonet rather than the ballot, undoing gains in Iraq and Lebanon. Venezuela, meanwhile, is pushing its communist revolution by propping up Cuba and supporting socialist governments all across Latin America. Their goal? A “multipolar world” where the influence of the United States is no longer a threat to their own power. Translated: the spread of freedom will be more easily halted when this happens.

In order to achieve this goal, one very much born of 20th century totalitarianism, 21st century technology and schemes must be employed. These governments, aflush in oil money, have all the cash they need to support their goal. Yet with so much to look on in the past, they cannot simply turn society on its head and take over. They make themselves look legitimately capitalist and even democratic to the untrained or carefree observer.

The Kremlin has taken control over all important media in Russia, under the guise that it does not own a 100% stake in most companies. Instead, it owns a majority share and appoints government officials and Kremlin-friendly oligarchs to head these companies. Venezuela has duped many in the world into believing that it conducted free and fair elections while and has kept its promises of serving the poor. Nothing is further from the truth, and Hugo Chavez has already begun seizing major companies in the name of his revolution. Iran? Well, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t care much for the opinion of anyone, but even his country holds what it portends to be elections. All of them have these things in common, so it may be no wonder that they all make such great buddies. In these common structural conditions they are also able to firmly maintain power in their countries through control and repression. None of them have an interest in freedom and democracy at home, and they certainly don’t want it anywhere near them.

The year 2006, then, can be the marker for the fourth backsliding of democracy. After every previous wave their would be an era of consolidation and pushback. The difference today, however, is that in the geopolitical arena the pushbackers are stronger, more defiant, and more united than ever. Their enemy? Freedom, democracy, and the United States. If freedom is to stop its stall, the American government will have to continue to push for it; stronger than Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China are pushing against it.

It can be done. While the United States was not directly responsible for many of the gains in previous years, the moral and sometimes technical support was a boon to pro-democracy forces around the world. In the region where it has the most influence for change right now especially, the Middle East, the United States has brought about great changes. It is because of the United States that the Gulf states are holding elections and expanding women’s rights. It is because of the United States that Lebanon got help in freeing itself from Syrian occupation. And it is because of the United States that the Iraqi people get at least one shot to live in freedom and democracy.

In 2006, seeing these rollbacks in democracy and pushback from major authoritarian powers, the Bush administration has not been extolling the virtues of these principles. Many governments no longer see the need to reform because they no longer feel the pressure. They no longer see the United States as strong enough to stand up for them.

Let’s make 2007, and every year after it, a time when we fight hard for what we believe in. If there were ever a New Year’s resolution that needed to be made — by me, you, and every official in the Bush Administration — this is it.