The recent decision by the military junta ruling Niger to revoke the country’s security partnership with the U.S was just the latest in a series of developments that have remade the geopolitical landscape of West Africa. The result is a more competitive playing field for the outside powers seeking influence in the volatile region.
Last year, Chinese automaker BYD clinched a deal to take over Ford Motor’s factory in Bahia, Brazil, after Ford decided to withdraw from the Brazilian market. BYD is already the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, and the move into Brazil is an effort to further consolidate its early conquest of EV markets in the Global South.
For decades, Panama has enjoyed relative economic prosperity and political stability compared to its neighbors. But after years of simmering popular discontent that culminated in massive protests last year, and amid political uncertainty ahead of an upcoming presidential election, its economic prospects look grim.
The agenda for global development, including its governance and architecture, clearly needs change. Yet, making sense of our development architecture in today’s context is a complicated matter: Global development faces a range of complex, interconnected challenges that must be tackled in a rapidly changing world.
Sudanese women were at the forefront of the country’s April 2019 pro-democracy protests. Today, they play pivotal roles as peacebuilders in Sudan’s ongoing civil war. But they have been entirely sidelined in decision-making and efforts to end the violence. After a year of war, it’s time to include women at the negotiating table.
The opposition victory in South Korea’s recent legislative elections will greatly reduce President Yoon Suk Yeol’s room for maneuver for the rest of his term. Rather than the victory being the result of the opposition’s campaign acumen, though, the reality is that Yoon—and high supermarket prices—made it all too easy.
Mali’s military junta imposed an indefinite ban last week on political activities, the latest of a series of crackdowns in recent months on freedom of association and other civil liberties. Last week’s decree is the latest indicator that Mali’s “interim” government is anything but “interim” and has little desire to relinquish power.
After more than three years of intense negotiations, the European Parliament finally passed the EU’s flagship migration plan earlier this month. But while European leaders have been spinning the pact as a balanced and fair compromise, human rights groups have been scathing in their condemnation of the plan.
The United Arab Emirates is rapidly emerging as a major player in the mining sector in Africa, starting with the acquisition of a large copper mine in Zambia. With its oil-dependent economy vulnerable to the global shift away from fossil fuels, Abu Dhabi is trying to secure a central place in the new energy economy.
The stakes are high heading into the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, not only for the International Olympic Committee, which needs to reset the narrative around the burden of hosting the Games, but also French President Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to boost France’s leadership of Europe in the emerging post-American world.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of Japan and the Philippines yesterday, in a meeting centered on shared security interests with an eye toward China’s increasing regional and global influence. This narrow focus, however, highlights the lack of seriousness paid to the escalating crisis in Myanmar.
The Gulf Cooperation Council states are on a transformative journey, tapping into new sectors to diversify their traditionally hydrocarbon-dependent economies. Now, a regional space race is emerging, driven by domestic economic ambitions and commercial interests, but also the desire to enhance global prestige and soft power.
The recent approval of the United States’ eighth major offshore wind project provided a boost to the offshore wind sector’s commitment to being part of the solution not only to climate change, but also the rapid degradation of marine biodiversity. These crises are two sides of the same coin and must be addressed together.
Feb. 15 was supposed to be a red-letter day for the EU’s 30 million gig economy workers. Instead, the bloc’s flagship digital platform work directive was blocked, the latest twist in the trajectory of a proposal that has been shaped by landmark court rulings, a global pandemic and the EU’s pernicious lobby industry.
The leaders of Vietnam, a one-party, opaque, and authoritarian state, usually try to present themselves as working closely together, free of discord and united on all fronts. The current reality is far different. Behind the opaque façade, Vietnam’s leadership is now apparently both corrupt and intensely fractious.
The war in Gaza has reverberated in the West Bank, deepening public anger at Israel. At the same time, Israeli actions in the West Bank continue to energize Palestinian armed groups that are challenging the control of the Palestinian Authority. Now, the Palestinian political system is heading towards a profound crisis.
Few themes have featured as prominently in Kremlin propaganda about the war in Ukraine as the supposed persecution of Russian speakers there. It is ironic, then, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has done more harm to the language’s standing than perhaps any other leader in at least a century.