Historical comparisons with contemporary events are always risky, particularly with regard to warfare. But two historical patterns in the use of mercenaries in Europe can provide insights into the role that private military contractors like the Wagner Group play within the Russian political system, and how that might evolve over time.
The great environmental benefit of electric vehicles, no matter where they are produced or driven, is that they generate zero tailpipe emissions. That’s a huge plus, given that transportation accounts for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and about 8 percent in China. But the environmental news isn’t all good.
The Lima Group came together in 2017 with the goal of improving human rights and humanitarian conditions in Venezuela. Today, it is clear that the Lima Group failed to achieve its lofty goals. But its experience can offer lessons to Latin America on the challenges similar projects could face in the future.
A suspected Russian intelligence operation on the soil of NATO ally Albania may have been the first direct confrontation between NATO and Russia since Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine six months ago. If so, it could force the United States to act in some manner, given its past promises to respond to a threat on NATO soil.
Canadians have worked hard to develop distinct institutional traditions and international ties, but have undoubtedly benefited from the trade and security guarantees offered by the U.S. If Washington retreats from its role as global guarantor, Canadians will struggle to cope with the ensuing disruptions.
Recent arrests of priests in Nicaragua would seem to offer a moment for the Catholic Church, which remains influential in Latin America, to galvanize regional governments against the repressive rule of President Daniel Ortega. But while local priests speak out, church leaders have appeared unwilling to do more.
Critics call the Afghanistan withdrawal one of the biggest failures of President Joe Biden’s administration. Afghanistan was indeed a failure of U.S. foreign policy. But the failure was not in how the U.S. left Afghanistan in August 2021. Rather it was in the fact that U.S. forces were still in Afghanistan in August 2021.
In July, Guatemalan police arrested Jose Ruben Zamora, one of the country’s most prominent journalists and publisher of El Periodico, a newspaper whose mission is to shine light on corruption. The arrest was an ominous lurch toward authoritarianism in a region where democracy, with its shallow roots, is getting trampled.
A recurring trope in the British media is an opinion piece that ostentatiously praises or condemns Scandinavian welfare policies. This tendency to reduce Scandinavia to a simplistic caricature misses insights into how these societies are adapting to social change—and how the rest of Europe might overcome its own challenges.
This week, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, into law. The act, which aims to transition the U.S. power sector to using 100 percent renewables by 2035, represents the biggest commitment to climate policy in U.S. history. But the IRA is a game-changer not just in size, but also in scope.
The first 100 days of any administration should always be a moment for optimism. So, even if Colombia’s political system is doomed to hit gridlock later in his term, the country’s new president, Gustavo Petro, still has a few months to check a few agenda items off his list and start their implementation.
In the aftermath of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China engaged in a military show of force that raised fears Beijing could be preparing to take control of Taiwan by force, if not immediately, then in the near future. Such concerns are not off base, but fears of an imminent invasion of Taiwan are likely overblown.
The international community may be experiencing a case of compassion fatigue when it comes to the violence currently gripping Haiti. But it is hardly an excuse. While much of Haiti’s misery is homegrown, the roots of its troubles extend beyond the island, and the reverberations from its crises always breach its borders.
Peace in Bosnia has been bought at a high price for the EU and the local population. In ignoring growing signs of corruption, the EU allowed structural dysfunction to fester. The system put in place by the Dayton Agreement may have been necessary to end war in the 1990s. But 30 years later, Bosnia is a different place.
In our current age of nonstop emails and texts, many of us find it hard to take any real time off work. So perhaps we can learn some lessons from senior U.N. officials who have the weight of the world on their shoulders at all hours. Is there any way for them to get a rest? To find out, I asked some for their tips.
With polls showing that he may lose by a wide margin in Brazil’s Oct. 2 presidential election, President Jair Bolsonaro is setting the stage to claim fraud and have his supporters protest his loss. More troubling, Bolsonaro has hinted that elements of the military and police will back his efforts.
The human suffering and risks of escalation caused by the war in Ukraine are leading many observers to call for the U.S. and NATO to take any steps necessary to strike a deal with Russia for an immediate cease-fire. It is understandable to want to end the war. But calls for the West to do so in Ukraine’s stead are misplaced.