Diplomacy & Politics Archive

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on countries’ risk exposure, contribution and response to climate change. During his visit to Washington last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to formally ratifying the Paris climate change agreement by the end of 2016. In an email interview, Neil Bhatiya, the climate and diplomacy fellow at the Center for Climate and Security, discusses India’s response to climate change. WPR: What is India’s risk exposure to climate change, what effects of climate change are already apparent, and what sorts of mitigation approaches will it have to adopt or […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss political violence and terrorism in the United States, France and Africa in the wake of the Orlando shooting. For the Report, Jonathan Rosen joins us to talk about Ethiopia’s push toward industrialization. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Easy Access to Guns, Not Terrorism, Is the Enemy in Orlando Shooting Playing the Long Game: Getting Past Near-Term Thinking on Terrorism France Takes the Gloves Off After Paris Attacks, but Will It Overreach? France’s Overstretched Military Not Enough to Stabilize the Sahel Made […]

In a recent article for Defense One, national security expert Stephen Biddle argued that much of the debate on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan focuses on the wrong thing—the timetable for withdrawal—rather than on America’s ultimate strategic goals. The real objective, Biddle wrote, “is to end the war on terms Americans and Afghans can live with. But calendar deadlines and fixed withdrawal schedules make this almost impossible.” The only alternative to the collapse of the Afghan government and a likely victory by the Taliban, Biddle continued, is a negotiated settlement. This conclusion is solidly grounded in the long, bloody history of […]

Next week, on June 23, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) will meet to discuss Venezuela, a country in the throes of an economic, political and humanitarian crisis. It now appears that it’s only a matter of time before Venezuela—virtually institution-less, politically polarized, facing chronic food and medical shortages, and with its government and military wracked by corruption—implodes and becomes a failed state. How did this happen? How did a country with abundant natural resources, a nominally democratic government and basic human rights, one that is a member of a multilateral system with numerous safeguards to […]

With international sanctions against Iran lifted, India is keen to get ties with Tehran back to their pre-sanctions level. This was reflected in the flurry of high-level visits that took place this year in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Iran in late May. While India is looking to Iran to help in its transition to an economy fueled by natural gas, it is also betting on Iran to be its gateway into markets in Central Asia, through the development of the Iranian port of Chabahar. For its part, Iran seems keen to deepen its strategic economic […]

The results of Mexico’s local elections on Sunday, June 5, represent a nadir for President Enrique Pena Nieto and the dawn of his administration’s long exit. Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI—the erstwhile hegemon that he led back to power after more than a decade in the opposition in 2012—lost seven of Mexico’s 12 gubernatorial races, which were the centerpiece of the day’s contests. While that may not sound like much, the PRI dramatically underperformed both its leaders’ and most pollsters’ predictions. This leaves the party in charge of just 15 of Mexico’s 32 states, its lowest number since […]

Since late May, Kem Sokha, vice president of Cambodia’s opposition party, has remained in the party headquarters to avoid arrest over charges that he procured a prostitute. The case is the latest in what the European Union has condemned as a campaign of “judicial harassment” against the opposition. In an email interview, Stuart White, the national news editor at the Phnom Penh Post, discusses Cambodia’s current crackdown on the opposition and the prospects for reform. WPR: What is driving the current crackdown on Cambodia’s opposition, and what explains Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision to end the truce represented by the […]

Against a broader backdrop of regional turmoil, Mauritania has remained surprisingly, if delicately stable. This feat is especially noteworthy given that just a few years ago the country was considered at significant risk of destabilization. Its politics and society have been perennially buffeted by the storms of racial tensions, ethnic cleavages and political volatility. Since its independence from France in 1960, Mauritania has wavered precariously between this state of fragile stability and state collapse. Its record of successive coups and attempted coups between 1978 and 2008; major ethnic clashes in 1989 and 1990; and terrorist attacks between 2005 and 2011 […]

When Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, delivered her first speech after the weekend massacre at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, she listed a predictable collection of problems contributing to the killings, from the availability of assault rifles in the U.S. to the proliferation of extremist ideologies emanating from the Middle East. Then she delivered a surprisingly blunt message to America’s Arab allies: It is “long past time,” she declared, for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations, as well as from “supporting radical schools and mosques” that send young people into extremism. The […]

Editor’s note: This is the final article in WPR’s ongoing series on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the potential impact on members’ economies.. Peru’s recently elected president, Pablo Kuczynski, is a supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and ratification of the deal by Peru’s Congress is likely in the near future. In an email interview, Alan Fairlie, a professor of economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, discussed the benefits and drawbacks of TPP membership for Peru. WPR: What are the expected economic benefits and potential downsides for Peru from the TPP, and who are the expected “winners” and “losers”? […]

In the immediate hours after Omar Mateen, an American citizen of Afghan descent, committed the worst mass shooting in American history in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the focus of media coverage turned to where it usually does when the killer is Muslim: terrorism. Certainly, Mateen gave plenty of reason to link his crime to the self-declared Islamic State and jihadi terrorism, in general. He literally called 911 while the massacre was underway to pledge his allegiance to the group and rail against U.S. bombing attacks in Iraq and Syria. Here was, seemingly, a clear-cut case of the so-called […]

France has always claimed to be a power in the Asia-Pacific, but some recent strategic developments have given additional credence to that claim. In April, France won a landmark contract to sell 12 attack submarines to Australia, after securing a deal with India for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets last year. The Australia submarine contract, worth some $39 billion, is viewed in Paris as heralding a new beginning for France-Australia ties, which until the late 1990s were marred by disputes over French nuclear tests in Polynesia. Australia had been mulling Japanese and German bids. The Asia-Pacific market is […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on countries’ risk exposure, contribution and response to climate change. Leaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico are to meet later this month for the so-called Three Amigos summit, and climate change is expected to dominate the agenda. In an email interview, Alexis Arthur, an independent energy consultant, discussed Mexico’s response to climate change. WPR: What is Mexico’s risk exposure to climate change, what effects of climate change are already apparent, and what sorts of mitigation approaches will it have to adopt or develop? Alexis Arthur: Like many […]

For more than 20 years, Israel’s ties with countries in Asia have gradually increased, enough to warrant talk of Israel’s own pivot to the region. But it is not just a pivot. Instead, it is a major realignment of Israel’s foreign policy on a broad scale, supported by geopolitical developments and motivated by Israel’s slowly eroding political relations with Europe and the United States. The origins of this process can be found in Israel’s desire to stake out a claim in booming world trade with China, whose massive growth in recent decades could leave no trading partner indifferent. But what […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last week was striking in its normalcy. In contrast to the drama of the early years of the transformation in this bilateral relationship, it’s become commonplace to see Indian and American leaders praise the partnership and work through often tedious bilateral issues. The strategic trajectory is becoming clear: Cooperation is growing on managing the global commons and ensuring a peaceful Asia. Over the past two decades during which the relationship between the world’s two most-populous democracies has been transformed, references to their shared values have been abundant. In the past, however, invoking […]

LIMA, Peru—After trailing Keiko Fujimori in the polls for weeks, former World Bank economist and investment banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski enjoyed a surge of support just before Peru’s run-off election on June 5 to win one of the most contested presidential races in the country’s history. Kuczynski is widely regarded as capable and honest, but he faces major challenges as he attempts to strengthen the economy and improve life for Peruvians. The country’s cities and northern regions suffer high crime rates; its vast jungle regions are dominated by drug traffickers; and corruption is rampant in the national police and courts. […]

ALEM GENA, Ethiopia—As she shuffles about the factory floor, watching over the machines that weave spools of thread into fabric, Asrat Yimam personifies the future of the Ethiopian workforce. A 27-year-old mother of one from the nearby capital, Addis Ababa, Yimam has spent the past six years toiling for Ayka-Addis, a Turkish-owned textile and garment factory and the largest firm in Ethiopia’s emerging apparel industry. Six days a week, for 1,500 birr ($68) a month after taxes, she rises early for her eight-hour shift, dons her spotted blue and white Ayka uniform, and spends her day churning out cotton for […]