Many Americans were reminded last week that the United States remains actively engaged in military combat. But this conflict is not in Afghanistan, where the U.S. withdrew its forces last August. Nor is it in Ukraine, where President Joe Biden has gone out of his way to avoid direct military involvement. It’s in Syria.
Bolivia officially became the Plurinational State of Bolivia in 2009, when a newly ratified constitution formally recognized the country’s cultural diversity. But the country’s experience since then shows how radical ideas can end up diluted into policies that, while significant, fall short of fundamental change.
European Union bureaucrats are busy figuring out how to implement the agreement reached this week in Prague by EU foreign ministers to end visa facilitation for Russian tourists visiting the union. But many of the bloc’s members fear that the policy could strengthen Putin’s hand and hurt ethnic Russians living in the union.
Last week, prosecutors asked a judge to sentence Argentinian Vice President Cristina Fernandez to 12 years in prison and ban her from public office for life for her alleged role in a yearslong corruption scheme. She denies the charges and, in fact, has once again managed to turn a legal peril into a political win, at least for now.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s tour of Central Asia in July highlighted Beijing’s growing influence in the region. China has become a top trade partner and investor, surpassing Russia, its silent rival there. With Moscow now preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, Beijing is poised to secure its lead once and for all.