Domestic Politics Archive

BEIJING — Enhanced transnationalism in international systems is creating new sources of comparative advantage for nations, with the strategic value of connectedness being a particularly noteworthy example. But in an age where horizontal global network connections are proliferating, the world’s fastest-rising power, China, maintains a rigidly vertical, Communist Party-led hierarchy of information. This exceptionalism, increasingly apparent throughout China’s domestic and foreign policy, is emerging as one of the most fundamental obstacles to the country’s continued international rise. Chinese exceptionalism in formal foreign and economic policy is by no means a new phenomenon, but China, to a greater degree than any […]

King Abdullah II of Jordan recently formed a royal committee to review and propose amendments to Jordan’s constitution. In an email interview, Jillian Schwedler, a Jordan expert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, discussed protests and reform in Jordan. WPR: How has Jordan been affected by the popular upheavals in the region? Jillian Schwedler: Like citizens throughout the Middle East, Jordanians of various political and socio-economic backgrounds were inspired by the protests in Tunisia and then Egypt to raise questions about their own government. Small protests took place throughout the country for nine consecutive Fridays beginning in late-January. The most […]

Police in Madrid made several arrests late Sunday night after a peaceful protest against government austerity measures ended in violent clashes. Although rallies were held in 50 cities across the country, most of the confrontations were centred in the capital.

Despite having enormous natural and human resource endowments, Ukraine has experienced severe difficulties during the past two decades transitioning from a Soviet republic subordinate to Moscow to an independent country with a democratic political system, effective liberal market economy and foreign and defense policies that meet the country’s unique national security requirements. Many of Kiev’s particular foreign policy concerns result from Ukraine’s status as both a bridge and a front-line state situated between the former Soviet empire and Western and Central Europe. Ukraine has increasingly tried to turn that status to its advantage. For now, though, it has yet to […]

Demonstrators furious at the severe injury of a protester during an anti-austerity march clashed with riot police in central Athens on Thursday, the second day of violence in the Greek capital.

At first glance, the power struggle currently taking place among Iran’s ruling elites might seem bizarre. After all, it is not often that the chief executive of a 21st-century nation is accused of “witchcraft,” “experimenting with exorcism” and “communicating with genies.” Mullahs have tarred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration as containing “deviants, devils and evil spirits.” Ahmadinejad responded that his opponents have launched a “conspiracy” to undo socio-economic changes beneficial to most Iranians. At the heart of the widening dispute is Ahmadinejad’s increasing independence from the system of “velayat-e faqih,” or guardianship of the — religious — jurist, on which […]

Following the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the developments still unfolding in the region, several questions arise: Is the Arab Spring over? Have we reached a turning point where no new revolutions are likely and where the remaining autocratic leaders will reaffirm their power monopolies? And what do post-revolutionary developments in Tunisia and Egypt suggest about the pace and prospects of their political opening and possible democratization? In trying to answer these questions, the two waves of democratization in Eastern Europe and Eurasia provide useful analytical comparisons. The 1989 revolutions in the former communist bloc, as well as its […]

As part of a wider ongoing crackdown on dissent, government security forces in Bahrain are targeting medical workers.

Voting was so evenly split over Ecuador’s 10-question referendum last weekend that it remains too close to say which, if any, of the reforms pushed by the country’s 39-year-old president, Rafael Correa, will be drafted into law. According to reports yesterday, “yes” votes were within a half percentage point of “no” votes on the more controversial proposals calling for the dissolution and overhaul of the country’s judiciary and the creation of a government panel to police the news media. Some observers are saying the high number of “no” votes indicates a growing wariness in Ecuador toward Correa’s broader ambition to […]

Last November, when the State Department learned that an outfit called WikiLeaks had acquired tens of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, the reaction in Washington bordered on panic. WikiLeaks had already released secret papers on the Afghanistan war, which the Pentagon said had gravely endangered many lives. Facing an impending torrent of classified documents covering U.S. interests on all continents, top American diplomats tried to brace the country for the harsh impact. They anxiously predicted the massive leak would be “harmful to our national security.” Five months after WikiLeaks broke the latch on its treasure trove and started scattering […]

Mass graves attest to the brutality of a 5-month-long power struggle for Ivory Coast’s presidency that ended last month. In a muddy slum at the edge of Abidjan, palm leaves stuck in rusty piles of earth mark the graves of 68 villagers. They were killed by rampaging militias over the last month.

At the start of the Arab revolutions, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) tentatively placed Turkey on the side of the pro-democracy movements, starting with Tunisia and then Egypt. In contrast to 2009, when Ankara backed the Ahmadinejad administration following Iran’s disputed elections, Turkey was the first country to call for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down at a time when other leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, were hedging their bets. In doing so, Erdogan positioned himself and Turkey as regional leaders in encouraging democracy in other Muslim countries, based on […]

BEIJING — As policymakers from the world’s two largest economies gather in Washington for the third U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the Chinese yuan is trading at a 30-year high against the dollar, while its convertibility has expanded significantly since this time last year, and bullish sentiment surrounds its future evolution. Although this may suggest China is finally getting serious about rationalizing the value of the yuan, recent measures are geared toward internationalization rather than genuine liberalization, and China’s economy is still decades away from being able to support a free-floating currency. It is in the U.S. interest to support […]

Opposition “Red Shirt” supporters in Thailand say they are being silenced ahead of an upcoming general election. Police have reportedly closed down several anti-government radio stations for “lacking licenses or permits to broadcast”. But activists say the only stations targeted were ones run by Red Shirt supporters.

The clash between Coptic Christians and Salafi Muslims that left 12 people dead in Cairo over the weekend prompted a swift response from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that has run Egypt since February’s ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. The violence represents a serious uptick in sectarian tensions within Egyptian society, and some are questioning the extent to which sinister elements from Mubarak’s fallen regime may be playing a role in it. “There is some concern, and there have been claims even that some of the things we’ve been seeing with regard to the sectarian clashes have […]

The recent events in the Arab world and Iran have led many in the West to urge President Barack Obama to take a stronger stance against human right abuses in Iran. The Obama administration should resist this temptation, as doing so would only serve to weaken Iran’s domestic opposition. As the popular uprisings in the Middle East have demonstrated, revolutions are most successful when they are organic. The voices calling on the Obama administration to give greater attention to human rights abuses in Iran have been forceful and diverse. A Washington Post editorial from last month, for instance, told the […]

DENPASAR, Indonesia — With Indonesia experiencing an escalation of terrorist violence, local analysts have focused on trying to determine who is behind each of the recent attacks. Assessing the nature and affiliation of the groups responsible is certainly important. But the current situation may be the result of several converging trends that suggest Indonesia must confront some of its persistent demons if it wants to contain terrorism. In its latest report, entitled “Indonesian Jihadism: Small Groups, Big Plans,” the International Crisis Group (ICG) outlined how homegrown terrorism in Indonesia has lately taken on a new form, with small cells operating […]