Domestic Politics Archive

SHANGHAI—Since coming to power, the current Chinese government has steadily managed down both the rate of actual industrial expansion and expectations of future growth in the world’s second-largest economy, with a host of key economic indicators now at multiyear lows. Strikingly, however, in the face of what might be described as an industrial hard landing, job creation and income growth remain remarkably robust. There has never been a shortage of predictions of the impending collapse of the Chinese economy. But year after year, the country has defied the bears and continued its remarkable economic development faster than the majority of […]

At a conference in Slovenia last week, the International Whaling Commission voted against allowing Japan to hunt whales in the Antarctic. In an email interview, Atsushi Ishii, associate professor of international relations and sociology of science and technology at Tohoku University, discussed Japan’s whaling program. WPR: What role does whaling play in Japan, economically and culturally? Atsushi Ishii: The Japanese have been whaling since ancient times and whaling-related culture flourished in rural coastal areas. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, whale meat was almost the only protein source for the Japanese people and became part of the national cuisine. […]

It is still too soon to know what the Sept. 21 takeover of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, by a group known as the Houthis will mean for the country’s future and its internationally backed political transition. But in a matter of days, the Houthis have redrawn Yemen’s political map far more radically than the 2011 uprising that led to the ouster of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh after 33 years in power. So quickly did the Houthis rout tribal and Sunni Islamist militias and a military unit loyal to one of their fiercest rivals before signing a peace deal on extremely […]

On Sept. 8, just three days before the anniversary of the 1973 military coup that deposed Chile’s socialist President Salvador Allende, an explosion rocked a metro station at an upscale shopping center in the capital, Santiago. The blast injured 14 people, two of them seriously, and sent authorities scrambling to investigate Chile’s worst bomb attack in more than two decades. The country’s deputy interior minister, Mahmud Aleuy, declared that the blast was the work of “demented criminals,” but the facts pointed to a much more troubling explanation. It wasn’t common criminals, demented or otherwise, who had carried out the attack. […]

Last month, three high-ranking Rwandan military figures close to President Paul Kagame were arrested and charged with so-called crimes against state security. The military purges have fueled fears of a political crisis for Kagame with dissension among the ranks of his party and backers in the army. Although officers have been arrested in the past and former Kagame supporters have fled the country and openly opposed him, last month’s detentions reveal growing insecurity within the regime, particularly when viewed in conjunction with a crackdown on other internal suspects of what the government considers “subversion.” Kagame’s Tutsi-dominated regime, which came to […]

The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is facing serious financial problems and infighting in the lead-up to its party congress next month. In an email interview, Stephen Chan, professor of international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, discussed the state of Zimbabwe’s opposition. WPR: What accounts for the emerging splits in the MDC party, and how likely is Morgan Tsvangirai to maintain his party leadership? Stephen Chan: The current splits in the MDC reflect fissures that have been building for a long time. Tendai Biti, the finance minister in the earlier […]

Earlier this month, Algeria and Russia signed a nuclear energy cooperation deal. In an email interview, Bruno Tertrais, senior research fellow at the Paris-based Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique (Foundation for Strategic Research), discussed Algeria’s nuclear program. WPR: What is the current status of Algeria’s civil nuclear program? Bruno Tertrais: Algeria has had a nuclear research program for almost three decades. Algeria has two main research facilities: Draria, which hosts a small 1-MW reactor near Algiers, and Ain-Oussera, a 15-MW reactor in the Sahara desert south of Algiers. The country has had plans for nuclear power reactors for a long […]

Thanks to its comprehensive democratization and its “Miracle on the Han,” which transformed the Republic of Korea into a developed country, South Korea has realized its aspirations to become a major international player. Nonetheless, the persistent threat from a perennially belligerent North Korea, along with the challenge of having three of the world’s most powerful countries as neighbors, continues to constrain South Korea’s global opportunities. Foreign Policy Although South Korean foreign policy cannot ignore its northern neighbor, the absence of any real movement in bilateral ties has meant that Seoul’s relations with Washington, Beijing and Tokyo have seen the most […]

Members of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement marched Sunday to demand universal suffrage for the election of the city’s chief executive. In an email interview, Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center, discussed the movement and its quest for greater democracy in Hong Kong. WPR: What are the Occupy Central movement’s objectives, and who are its main supporters? Robert Daly: Occupy Central’s goal is to ensure that the 2017 election of Hong Kong’s chief executive, which is supposed to feature “universal suffrage,” offers voters a meaningful choice. The founders’ original […]

AMSTERDAM—The annual event known as Prince’s Day in the Netherlands brings an uncommon dose of pomp to the decidedly informal Dutch landscape. Tens of thousands of people gathered on Tuesday to watch King Willem-Alexander and his superstar wife Queen Maxima travel in their golden carriage to the Hall of Knights for the opening of Parliament. The crowds come for the pageantry, but the day contains a large dose of serious substance. The main event is the king’s speech, which offers important clues to emerging priorities for the Netherlands, and usually for much of Europe. This year marked the 200th occasion […]

Last month, Georgian prosecutors filed charges against former President Mikheil Saakashvili for misallocating public funds while in office. These were only the latest in a series of allegations against Saakashvili this summer, including the charges that the former president exceeded his authority in cracking down on a mass demonstration and ordering the police to raid a TV station in 2007. Saakashvili—who in recent months has steered clear of Georgia—has accused the government, led by the Georgian Dream party that defeated his United National Movement at the polls in 2012, of political motives. The U.S. State Department has voiced concern over […]

In the first week of September, the Honduran military raised the Honduran flag over the disputed Conejo Island, quickly raising the ire of El Salvador’s government. The incident as well as other recent border disputes highlighted tensions within the region at a time when cooperation and collaboration are more important than ever. The timing of the flap was illustrative on a symbolic level as well: On Sept. 15, five Central American states—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua—will jointly celebrate 193 years of independence. Once united in a short-lived federation, the domestic and international politics of these five countries […]

Scotland heads to the polls next week to vote on the question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The latest polls show that the “no” camp is ahead with 53 percent of voters. However, this comes only days after a YouGov poll indicated that 51 percent of Scots were in favor of independence. The uncertainty of which way the referendum will go reflects the uncertainty over what the consequences would be if Scotland were to be become an independent nation, especially with regard to foreign policy. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which is leading the campaign for Scottish independence, “is […]

Shortly after Thailand’s military took power in a coup in May and proclaimed the ruling junta the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), its leader, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, said he wanted to “reform the political structure, economy and society.” At the time, the burning question was under what terms will this reform take place—and who gets to decide? Three months after the coup, the answer appears clear: Prayuth and the NCPO have supreme power over all political developments. The interim constitution adopted by the junta on July 22 has produced a 200-member National Legislative Assembly, all of its members […]

Last month, at least one Turkish soldier was killed in an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which threatened to undermine President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s mandate to negotiate with the organization. In an email interview, Mehmet Ümit Necef, associate professor at the Centre for Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, discussed the prospect of PKK peace talks under the Erdogan presidency. WPR: What is the current status of Turkey’s relations with the PKK given ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq? Mehmet Ümit Necef: The Turkish government and the PKK have carried out a successful peace […]

South African President Jacob Zuma visited Lesotho today to try to resolve a political crisis now in its second week. On Aug. 30, Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled to South Africa—which entirely surrounds his small, mountainous country—claiming to have escaped an attempted military coup. Thabane has since returned to the capital of Maseru, where, at his request, he is under the protection of a South African civilian police force. Meanwhile, an insurgency drawn from Lesotho’s elite Special Forces Unit, led by the ousted armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Tlali Kamoli, has raided state armories and taken to the hills. […]

On Aug. 14, the eve of its 68th Independence Day, Pakistan’s fragile democracy plunged into another period of turbulence as two sets of anti-government marches began in Lahore and made their way to Islamabad. One was led by Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), which claimed that last year’s general elections were marred by widespread electoral fraud and demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation, an investigation of electoral rigging and fresh elections. The other was led by Tahir-ul Qadri and his Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT), and called for the dissolution of the national parliament and provincial assemblies. Qadri, who […]