Even a narrow GOP majority in a single congressional chamber could stymie President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda. From a foreign policy perspective, however, divided government does not necessarily hold presidents back. Unsurprisingly, the Biden administration portrayed the results of the midterms as a victory for his foreign policy.
The return of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister has raised the question of whether he will revisit Israel’s neutrality over the war in Ukraine. But he is unlikely to, for a simple reason: Israel fears that aligning against Russia in Ukraine would curtail its freedom to operate against Iranian forces and proxies in Syria.
The new Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu is anticipated to be different than its predecessors due to the likely inclusion of two ultra-nationalist and Jewish supremacist parties. That will present a challenge to the U.S., in terms of the new government’s more unsavory figures and the policies it is expected to implement.
The U.N. COP27 Climate Change Conference kicked off in Egypt this week, capping off a year of contrasts when it comes to climate action. On one hand, several states dramatically increased their climate ambitions. On the other, a series of extreme weather events reinforced the sense of urgency over the climate crisis.
African delegates arrived at the U.N. COP27 Climate Change Conference with little patience for more pledges that they believe will likely go unrealized, especially as many African countries experience extreme climate events while rich, industrialized nations are responsible for the lion’s share of historical global carbon emissions.
In June, the Zondo Commission submitted the final volume of its report on state capture, which laid bare the scale of corruption presided over by the ruling African National Congress throughout the 2009-2018 presidency of Jacob Zuma. In doing so, it also placed a number of uncomfortable issues in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inbox.
The midterm congressional elections, like most in the U.S., came down to the domestic issues that voters care most about, namely their pocketbooks. But while the domestic impact of the elections will be most immediate, the midterms nevertheless do matter for U.S. foreign policy and global affairs more generally.
As the remaining results of this week’s midterm congressional elections in the U.S. continue to trickle in, the EU’s leadership is assessing the outcome’s implications for the trans-Atlantic relationship, now that the opposition Republican Party appears on track to win back control of at least one, if not both, chambers of Congress.
Ahead of Brazil’s presidential election, many observers warned that Jair Bolsonaro was following Donald Trump’s playbook from 2020, sowing the seeds of doubt in the election process in order to claim it was rigged afterward. But instead, he accepted the loss. So were red-flag alarmists wrong to argue that Brazilian democracy was in danger?
Saudi Arabia has ramped up its crackdown on dissent, as recent cases make clear that the country is willing to surveil its citizens abroad and severely punish them for exercising their right to free expression within the jurisdiction of democratic countries, a worrying trend that appears to only be getting worse.
Many observers have raised questions about whether Elon Musk’s cozy business ties to Chinese politicians will create conflicts of interest when it comes to how Twitter handles issues like account verification, data privacy and security, and content moderation to prohibit harassment campaigns against activists and dissidents.
For decades, British commentators have expressed concern over other societies that have faced death spirals of governance. Now it is beginning to dawn on many senior political figures in the U.K. that their own system may be drifting dangerously close to the kind of existential crisis they used to think could only happen elsewhere.
Geopolitical tensions will dominate next week’s G-20 summit, as major world leaders convene amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, a heightened U.S.-China strategic rivalry and growing estrangement between the Global North and South. To save the forum from irrelevance, the West must deliver on priorities that matter to the Global South.
Evangelical groups in the U.S. have played an increasingly powerful role in world affairs since the 1970s, shaping U.S. foreign relations as well as laws and culture in countries around the world, with specific focus on promoting social conservatism and religious liberty, supporting Israel, and providing humanitarian assistance.
Israel’s fifth parliamentary election in four years secured a dramatic political comeback for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is set to form a government that will include the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism. The coalition already threatens to undermine Israel’s partnerships with Gulf States and the U.S.
For African populations and governments, the uncertainty and instability on display in both the U.K. and Chinese political systems highlight the bankruptcy of two competing visions of governance that have been held out as models to ensure better development outcomes. Now, it seems like no one system is applicable in Africa.
Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russian men have fled the country to avoid being pressed into military service. In response, several European nations have barred Russian asylum-seekers from entering the country. But arguments for barring Russian draft-dodgers don’t stand up to scrutiny.