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Protests have erupted in Northern Ireland in response to a vote by the Belfast City Council to fly the United Kingdom’s flag, with its trademark Union Jack symbol, above City Hall only on designated days, rather than every day of the year as has been the tradition for the past century. But what began as peaceful protests soon became violent riots that authorities have attributed to extremists exploiting the situation for their own purposes. “A small number of committed people can always create problems for a peaceful democratic majority,” Neil Jarman, director of the Institute for Conflict Research in Belfast, […]

Last week, Myanmar’s military launched airstrikes against ethnic rebels from the northern state of Kachin, the latest salvo in a conflict between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Myanmar’s central government that has escalated since a 1994 cease-fire came apart in 2011. Like other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, the Kachin have long sought more autonomy from the central government of the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, which was under repressive military rule for five decades but has experienced a modicum of reform since President U Thein Sein came to power in 2011. Yet Thein Sein’s ascent was soon […]

The coming months mark the 10th anniversary of the start of a disastrous period for American diplomacy. A decade ago, the State Department languished on the sidelines as the Bush administration prepared for war in Iraq. On Feb. 5, 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations to argue that Saddam Hussein was still developing weapons of mass destruction. Powell knew that the case was weak, but he also knew that there was no hope for real diplomacy over Iraq. Washington wanted war. Ten years on, diplomacy is back in fashion in Washington. As secretary of state, […]

When South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) convened its national conference in Mangaung in December, the party urgently needed to set a course for calmer waters after a turbulent year. President Jacob Zuma has been accused by the South African media of being a visionless cipher in a country desperate for dynamic and innovative leadership. Although Zuma’s government is not without achievements, South Africa’s core problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to fester. Corruption, too, has worsened, as measured by Transparency International’s annual index, with South Africa falling five places in 2012. In October, two ratings agencies, Standard […]

What a difference between Election Day 2012 and today. In the immediate aftermath of his electoral victory, U.S. President Barack Obama seemed poised to start his second term of office with renewed energy and confidence. However, the euphoria of the president’s supporters has slowly but steadily eroded. Despite his hopes that, with the election over, he could tackle the fiscal crisis that was looming over the country, Obama was unable to negotiate any lasting solution. Several months ago, I predicted that “Congress and the president may find some creative ways to postpone the scheduled sequestration” but that there would be […]

Although Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted its first missile in April 2011, it officially came of age last November during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, the latest iteration of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong to demand the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who has faced mounting public discontent with his rule since winning office six months ago in an election in which most of Hong Kong’s citizens could not vote. Leung is facing deepening controversy over questions concerning his personal integrity. Protesters at the New Year’s Day demonstrations demanded he step down, spurred by the news that Leung had made unauthorized additions to his $64 million home and concealed this fact during his election campaign. Henry Tang, Leung’s primary […]

When the world thinks of up-and-coming economies, the only non-Asian country that readily comes to mind is Brazil. That, however, may soon change. The stars are aligning, presaging what could prove to be a brilliant future for Mexico. Latin America’s second-largest economy has long suffered from a combination of problems, some of which produced gruesomely bad press along with a hard-to-erase negative image. The problems, to be sure, have been real. But the image has been anything but balanced. Pictures of brutal killings in the country’s drug wars and high-pitched debates in the U.S. about waves of impoverished Mexican immigrants […]

TAIPEI — Relations with Taiwan might not be high on the list of priorities for incoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, given the dismal state of the Japanese economy. However, continued tensions with Beijing could make Taipei a valuable partner for Tokyo. Yet it’s uncertain whether Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s Kuomintang (KMT) government will be receptive to potential opportunities to improve relations with Japan. After his election, Abe was quick in promising to mend ties with mainland China. Tokyo-Beijing relations are the worst they have been in decades due to the dispute over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which were nationalized […]

As U.S. counterterrorism officials seek greater capability to combat terrorist groups in Africa, the Obama administration is considering asking Congress to approve expanded authority to allow military operations in places such as Mali, Nigeria and Libya, where perceived threats to U.S. security are proliferating. Broad disagreements remain, however, regarding the nature of these threats and how best to engage them. The diversity of potential targets also raises legal questions, as many of the terrorist groups operating in Africa are not necessarily affiliated with al-Qaida’s flagship franchise, now located in Pakistan. “The conditions today are vastly different then they were previously,” […]

With large-scale U.S. military involvement in Iraq receding in the rearview mirror, and Afghanistan soon to follow, debate is raging over the lessons Americans should draw from a decade of counterinsurgency. This debate is unfolding in a wide range of contexts and from many perspectives. Of these, one of the most important is a re-examination of American civil-military relations, especially the involvement of senior military leaders in building and sustaining public support for counterinsurgency campaigns like those in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the traditional model of American civil-military relations, civilian officials develop broad national policy, then build and sustain public […]

2012 was a year of critical leadership transitions. Familiar faces who stayed on or returned to the scene — as in the U.S., Russia and Japan — were joined by new leaders in China, South Korea, France and Mexico. Elsewhere, transitions are incomplete, with question marks hanging over countries such as Venezuela and Ethiopia. This World Politics Review special report examines the world’s new and returning leaders through articles published in the past year. U.S. Obama’s Caretaker PresidencyBy Nikolas GvosdevNovember 9, 2012 Obama Must Seize Opportunity for Bolder Foreign PolicyBy Judah GrunsteinNovember 9, 2012 Obama Should Go Broad, not Bold, […]