On Aug. 18, nearly eight years after 43 students from a teacher’s college in the rural town of Ayotzinapa disappeared, a truth commission set up by the government released a sprawling report that confirmed what many had long argued: The state was involved. But whether the findings will result in accountability remains to be seen.
Just days after Liz Truss became the U.K.’s fourth prime minister in six years, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in the country’s history, died at the age of 96. The wide range of reactions to her death, both within the U.K. and around the world, say a lot about the country, but also about current global politics.
Zambia has agreed to a $1.3 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund that is intended to bolster the debt-laden country’s macroeconomic stability. But the agreement’s conditions are evoking fears in Zambia and elsewhere across Africa of the debt crises of the 1980s and 1990s, and are likely to be unpopular with Zambians.
In the aftermath of Mikhail Gorbachev’s death last week, many observers wondered if another Gorbachev-like figure could reverse Russia’s course after President Vladimir Putin leaves power, like Gorbachev did for the Soviet Union. But that’s unlikely. And the image of Gorbachev that guides such hopes is less than accurate.
Swedish voters head to the polls on Sept. 11, with no clear sign of what the outcome will be, and the leading coalitions running neck-and-neck. The general election comes at a time of global geopolitical and economic instability due to the war in Ukraine, which has had a major impact on Sweden’s foreign policy orientation.
Documents are flying around Brussels with various proposals to resolve Europe’s energy crisis, ahead of a pivotal emergency meeting of the EU’s energy ministers scheduled for tomorrow. But there remain several unanswered questions, including whether those proposals will be durable or sustainable in the long term.
Across Haiti, mass protests are erupting against insecurity and government impunity. But Prime Minister Ariel Henry seems more interested in protecting his power than in addressing Haiti’s crisis. Since 2021, however, Haitian civil society has been working to develop local solutions to the country’s problems.
Predictions that the coronavirus pandemic would kill globalization began to emerge within weeks of the economic shutdowns it unleashed. Now, Russia’s war in Ukraine has crystallized a consensus that globalization is experiencing its death throes. Rumors of globalization’s death, however, are likely premature.
Yemen’s latest truce extension was reached with difficulty, in part because the Houthis no longer feel they have any incentive to make further concessions. With the clock already running down on the two-month extension, the group’s lack of meaningful engagement poses a serious threat to the prospects for reaching a lasting peace.
In Western liberal democracies, anti-China rhetoric seeks to embolden patriotism among Western citizens and provide a clear framework around which to rally the public. In practice, however, this pattern of behavior reveals more about the West than it does about Beijing. It also works to undermine key premises of liberal democracy.
There is nothing more depressing than seeing policymakers surprised by a crisis that informed observers have been predicting for many years. A case in point is the way the EU and the U.K. have lurched into furious action after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to address their energy dependence on Russia and other autocracies.
On Aug. 7, a multi-ethnic and socially diverse crowd witnessed the historic inauguration of modern Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, and its first Afro-Colombian and woman vice president, Francia Marquez. Petro now faces the enormous challenge of meeting their expectations and making good on his campaign promises.
In writing Middle East Memo each week, I’ll be focusing on what is happening in the Middle East and why it matters to policymakers, analysts and lay readers alike. And in conveying a clearer picture of events in the region, I will try to situate what is going on there within the greater geopolitical landscape.
Britain’s Conservative party leadership battle ended on Monday with Liz Truss, the former foreign secretary, beating Rishi Sunak, former chancellor of the exchequer, to become the country’s fourth prime minister in six years. But the turbulence that has plagued British politics over much of the past decade looks set to continue.
In October 2020, nearly 80 percent of Chileans voted in favor of rewriting the country’s constitution. On Sunday, over 60 percent of them voted to reject the document that resulted from that process. But this weekend’s result does not reflect a change in public opinion regarding whether the current constitution should be reformed.
Chileans will vote Sunday to determine whether to approve a new draft constitution, the culmination of a process that began with spontaneous protests in October 2019. The most recent polling shows the “No” camp with a significant but narrowing lead. But whether or not the constitution passes, Chile is in for a period of uncertainty.
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held last weekend in Tunis, amid major transformations in international politics since the last conference in 2019. Japan’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa are regarded by many Africans and other observers as a model of international cooperation to be emulated.