A student who helped lead the Umbrella Movement protests in Hong Kong has been convicted for inciting "unlawful assembly." Joshua Wong's conviction, along with two other student protesters, highlights the Communist Party's continuing effort to solidify power by cracking down on pro-democracy movements. The 2014 Umbrella Revolution was the largest protest against China's one-party communist rule in roughly two decades: a peaceful, student-led street movement possible under Hong Kong's civil liberties.

The extremist group ISIS exhibits attributes of both an insurgency and a totalitarian regime. Even top U.S. generals acknowledge that military force alone is insufficient to degrade, much less defeat an organization that rules an area larger than the United Kingdom. ISIS will only be weakened through a multifaceted strategy combining diplomatic, economic, political and other means. Organized civilian action that aims to disrupt and deny the group’s key sources of power could be a critical part of that strategy.