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Could Sunday’s general election in Hungary bring a shocking end to divisive Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rule, reshaping politics in Central Europe? However unlikely, that scenario no longer looks entirely impossible. Orban has previously appeared unstoppable as he set about building what he calls an “illiberal state.” His government, facing increasing criticism over corruption, is accused of overseeing the destruction of independent institutions while peddling xenophobia and dog-whistle anti-Semitism. Yet for many inside and outside Hungary, Orban’s unyielding positions—against immigration and alleged “interference” in national affairs by unelected bodies, whether the European Union or international organizations—have made him a standard-bearer […]

It is no small irony that the Iran nuclear deal painstakingly negotiated by the administration of Barack “No Drama” Obama has become a perfectly designed prop in the collective psychodrama otherwise known as U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump. Thanks to the conditions imposed by the U.S. Congress at the time of its adoption in 2015, the agreement has a built-in cliffhanger every 120 days, when the president must decide whether or not to reimpose unilateral sanctions that were only waived, not lifted, in return for the rigorous constraints placed on Iran’s nuclear program. In a little over a […]

On April 15, Montenegrins will go to the polls to elect a new president, but the likely winner will not be a new face. The country’s governing Democratic Party of Socialists, or DPS, nominated Milo Djukanovic, who has governed Montenegro as president or prime minister for much of the past three decades and oversaw the tiny Balkan state’s path to accession to NATO last year. Djukanovic, who retired as prime minister in late 2016, is seen as the leading promoter of Montenegro’s ambitions to join the European Union and position itself closer to Brussels and Washington. But pro-Russian forces in […]

AMSTERDAM—Every second Saturday in November, according to Dutch folklore, Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, arrives in the Netherlands, having traveled by steamboat with Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, from their home in Spain. The duo remain in the Netherlands until Dec. 5, the name day of Saint Nicholas—a major Dutch holiday similar to Christmas elsewhere. The beloved Zwarte Piet character is said to be the Moorish assistant of Sinterklaas, and he is customarily depicted as a black man with curly black hair, clownish attire, red lipstick and hoop earrings. Listen to Tracy Brown Hamilton discuss this article on […]

In rapid succession, America’s mercurial commander-in-chief has changed U.S. policy toward two of the world’s most tragic and intractable conflicts. In Afghanistan and Syria, President Donald Trump has simultaneously ramped up U.S. involvement and insisted that America cut its losses and get out. In both cases, it is hard to track the true underlying strategy that would achieve some durable American objectives. Rather, he is approving policy tactics formulated to respond to worsening conditions on the ground and to the advice of his military commanders, who see the larger consequences of security setbacks. First, the facts. It was late last […]

The Maldives, a country known far more as a honeymoon hotspot in the Indian Ocean than as a hub of political crisis, is back to “business as usual,” according to its president, Abdulla Yameen, following the lifting of a 45-day state of emergency on March 22. But with one former president forced into exile, another joining two Supreme Court justices in indefinite detention, and 31 of 45 opposition lawmakers still either in jail or facing trial, it looks like anything but that. After weeks of unrest, the government of the Maldives has bought the current calm with the last dregs […]

Measures announced last month at China’s 13th National People’s Congress to strengthen the leadership role of the Chinese Communist Party and remove term limits for President Xi Jinping have raised fears about the increasingly authoritarian trajectory of Chinese politics. However, given the country’s immense economic and governance challenges and the realities of its political system, authorities have little realistic alternative than to rely on the Communist Party’s leadership to oversee difficult structural changes. While repression may well increase and the possibility of policy misjudgment cannot be ruled out, boosting the party’s influence also increases the chance that Beijing will fulfill […]

In late March, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena was in Pakistan for a three-day visit that included attending the country’s Republic Day celebrations as the guest of honor, a sign of deepening ties between the two South Asian nations. The visit was seen as an attempt to build on defense cooperation that has been especially strong since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war. In an email interview, Michael Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discusses bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan and […]

Peacemaking is generally a quiet and deliberative business. Professional mediators typically approach international standoffs and civil wars in a methodical and low-key manner. They assume that any sudden moves or big news stories about a peace process will throw everything off-track. If you ever meet a group of mediators from organizations like the United Nations, you will notice that they have a penchant for long silences, oblique comments and inscrutable glances. Donald J. Trump is known for exactly none of these things. The U.S. president’s extraordinarily high-profile decision to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over Pyongyang’s nuclear […]