Geo-economics dominated the agenda of two critical meetings this week: a trilateral economic summit in Baku between Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, followed by a bilateral summit in St. Petersburg between Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. While matters of war and peace were also on the agenda—the stalemated conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and the ongoing fighting in Syria—both summits’ main focus was on ensuring connectivity to the global economy. Let’s start with Iran. In the year since Iran acceded to the terms of the nuclear agreement it signed with the group of world [...]
In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss Thailand’s new anti-democratic constitution, Zambia’s tense presidential election campaign, and Guatemala’s fight against corruption six months into Jimmy Morales’ presidency. In the Report, Carin Zissis looks at Mexico’s image problem—and its implications for U.S. ties—in the context of Donald Trump’s bellicose campaign rhetoric. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Thailand’s Junta Cements Control as Voters Approve New Constitution Zambia Goes to the Polls Amid Government Crackdown and Fears of Fraud Guatemala’s Anti-Corruption Fight Goes On, Despite Morales’ Flaws The Trump Effect: [...]
After nearly a decade of deliberations and vehement debate, India’s parliament finally passed a unified goods and services tax earlier this month, marking the first significant economic reform under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While correctly heralded as a major achievement that overhauls India’s convoluted tax system, the passage of this legislation nevertheless underscores how little Modi’s government has actually accomplished in its attempts to transform India’s economy. Modi’s failure to implement a sweeping reform agenda seems like a paradox. After all, he swept into power in 2014 with the promise of reviving India’s faltering economy, putting an end to corruption, [...]
