A very thin story that makes no mention of the fact that the worldwide plunge in oil prices has greatly diminished the influence of three of the countries mentioned: Iran, Venezuela, and Russia. There's also no link to the report that is this story's sole source, even though it's readily available. (I have added it to Links.)

This article makes clear that as China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela emerge as economic powers that are not committed to Western democratic models, the West must be on guard lest they partner to destroy democratic institutions worldwide.

Overly reliant on a single study. Without adequate perspective from other sources. Moreover, this kind of broad claim needs to be contextualized better than it is in this Reuters wire report.

many statements made here as in one example " targets include the u.n., the osce, and the oas" , are not backed up with any facts or analysis of how they are targeted, nor with what effect. there are some facts here about particular behaviors of these nations, particularly china, but no evidence about their goals re: democracy, and no mention that a primary goal for most of these behaviors would be consistent with global marketing.

Well, at least it was good for a laugh. Since the reverse of democracy is often authoritarianism, the headline promised no stunning insights. And the article delivered none. Without knowing who put the report together, or what they based the conclusions on, it was hard to evaluate its worth. And the article, unhelpfully, never says.