Tainted by scandals and controversies, some bordering on the absurd, Azerbaijan’s presidential election is now over. In a country where the monopolistic ruling party can easily manipulate everything from the voter registries to the list of international election observers, the incumbent’s victory by an 80 percent margin should come as no surprise. After all, elections in autocracies like Azerbaijan mean little in terms of domestic power struggles. But what will President Ilham Aliyev’s third term mean to the outside forces, such as the U.S. government, that can engage his regime on a more level playing field than can his domestic [...]
On Aug. 15, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa announced that he was abandoning the initiative by which Ecuador would commit to leave 846 million barrels of oil in the ground under Yasuni National Park, in the Amazon, if the international community donated $3.6 billion to the country to compensate for the foregone revenue. The announcement sparked protests and a movement backing a national referendum on the issue, but Correa was quick to consolidate political support for his decision. Last week, Ecuador’s Congress approved Correa’s plan to drill in the park, even as the Constitutional Court approved a request by environmentalists for [...]
With his diplomatic intervention in Syria and his much-discussed article in the New York Times last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed his reputation as a shrewd interlocutor on the world stage and a discerning analyst of global sentiment. He has inspired a wave of commentary about Russian resurgence reminiscent of 2007, when Time magazine named Putin person of the year for putting “his country back on the map.” Unless Russia can improve its demographic outlook and retain its competitiveness in global energy markets, however, occasional maneuvers on Putin’s part will be unlikely to translate into an enduring Russian [...]
