India Archive

The new president of the Maldives, Ibrahim Solih, was sworn in earlier this month, only to find that the state coffers had been “looted” by his autocratic predecessor, Abdulla Yameen. Solih has pledged to rein in corruption and realign the small island nation’s foreign policy, moving away from Yameen’s reliance on China and cultivating closer ties with India. But according to David Brewster, a senior research fellow at the Australian National University’s National Security College, that won’t be easy. In an interview with WPR, he explains why. World Politics Review: What were the factors that propelled Solih to victory in […]

The small Himalayan nation of Bhutan held national elections this fall for the third time since implementing multiparty democracy in 2008. As in the previous vote, in 2013, the incumbent party was ousted. Lotay Tshering, leader of the victorious Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa party, was sworn in as prime minister on Wednesday. He will now seek to follow through on campaign promises to improve social services and tackle Bhutan’s growing income gap. On the foreign policy front, the new government is expected to try to reduce its reliance on neighboring India, even as China is looking to expand its influence in […]