Diplomacy & Politics Archive

Bolivia was shaken in late August when Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was killed by striking miners from Bolivia’s informal, self-governing cooperatives, his body dumped by the side of the road 80 miles south of the capital, La Paz. Llanes had been sent to Bolivia’s mining region by President Evo Morales in an effort to reduce tensions among those frustrated with falling commodities prices and chafing at the government’s unwillingness to loosen restrictions they see as limiting their economic prospects. Among their repeated demands has been an expanded ability to contract with private companies—they are currently restricted to doing business […]

Are Antonio Guterres and Hillary Clinton on course for a clash over Syria in early 2017? The question may seem premature. Guterres was only confirmed as the next United Nations secretary-general last week and will take up the post at the beginning of January. Clinton is still campaigning hard to be U.S. president. If, as now seems likely, she wins November’s election, Clinton and Guterres will face a common dilemma over what to do about Syria from the start of next year. The Russian-backed assault by Syrian forces on Aleppo has left both the Obama administration and the U.N. on […]

September revealed the limits of U.S. President Barack Obama’s engagement in Asia. There was some good news, of course. On his last trip to the region, he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos, where he acknowledged “the suffering and sacrifices on all sides” of America’s secret war in the 1960s and 1970s and pledged to mend ties between the two countries. Later in the month, he met with Myanmar’s de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, at the White House. There he announced that all remaining sanctions on Myanmar would be lifted, a reward for the country’s democratic […]

Russia’s deepening role in the Syrian conflict continues to damage its relations with the West, as the brutal Moscow-backed Syrian offensive on Aleppo shows no signs of abating. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled a planned visit to Paris after his French counterpart Francois Hollande called Russian airstrikes in Syria “war crimes.” That followed Moscow’s veto of a French-backed U.N. Security Council draft resolution condemning the violence in Aleppo. Putin, whose visit was initially planned to inaugurate the opening of a Russian cultural center in Paris, reacted to Hollande’s comments that the trip would be downgraded to “a working […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss Belarus’ opening toward the West, the slow wheels of transitional justice in Burkina Faso, and the outlook for Peru under President Pablo Kuczynski. For the Report, Dorina Bekoe joins us to talk about the growing risk of instability in Ghana ahead of the December presidential election. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Belarus’ Lukashenko Gestures Toward Openness in a Bid to Impress the West Two Years After Compaore’s Ouster, the Wheels of Justice Turn Slowly in Burkina Faso With a Strong […]

Late last month, judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a landmark verdict, sentencing Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, a Malian member of a jihadi group tied to al-Qaida, to nine years in prison for the destruction of sacred mausoleums in Timbuktu. For the first time, the ICC prosecuted the destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime, sending a powerful message of international condemnation against the growing use of attacks on cultural heritage as a weapon during war. Prosecuting the destruction of the Timbuktu mausoleums was a way to respond through law rather than force to similar devastation […]

With Donald Trump’s presidential campaign rapidly disintegrating, the chances are good that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States. Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight election forecast now pegs Clinton’s odds of victory at over 80 percent. The New York Times gives her a close to 90 percent chance of winning. Barring some monumental and unprecedented shift over the next few weeks, the outcome of the 2016 election is set. If current trends hold, this will be a monumental defeat for the Republicans more broadly, potentially causing them not only to miss a chance to retake the White House, […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series inviting authors to identify the biggest priority—whether a threat, risk, opportunity or challenge—facing the international order and U.S. foreign policy today. Anti-trade sentiment in the United States, embodied in Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency, has risen dramatically over the past two years. The conventional wisdom says that protectionism is on the rise due to the economic impact of globalization. Free trade agreements have cost U.S. jobs and driven down wages in many regions of the country, which has fueled the backlash and aided Trump’s rise. The […]

Last week, commodities traders noticed something unusual in the spot oil markets. Representatives of Egypt’s state oil firm were suddenly making more aggressive buys, entering uncommonly large orders. Traders for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation reportedly purchased 560,000 tons of gas oil, more than double the September amount. And the orders required almost immediate delivery. Since Egypt gets most of its fuel from Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t difficult to trace the cause of the sudden scarcity. The Saudis, it became apparent, had suspended deliveries of highly subsidized fuel to Egypt. Riyadh had just fired a shot across Cairo’s bow. Fortunately […]

LIMA, Peru—Like many Peruvians, Augusto Correa has done well over the past two decades. In the 1990s, he and his siblings converted their grandfather’s former home in Lima’s upscale Miraflores district into a small bed-and-breakfast. Customers were scarce at first, but the business grew, and the siblings slowly expanded Hostal Buena Vista, as the bed-and-breakfast is called, from three rooms to 19, adding annexes and a third floor. In the process, Augusto’s brother Jorge opened a second Hostal Buena Vista in the highland city of Cusco, the former capital of the Incan empire, and Augusto recently inaugurated a third one […]

In last month’s elections in Belarus, opposition members picked up seats in parliament for the first time since 1996. For most of its independence from the Soviet Union, Belarus has been under the firm control of Alexander Lukashenko, frequently described as Europe’s last dictator. Lukashenko claims no political party, and neither do most members of parliament, which functions as a rubber stamp for him. But the ascension of Anna Konopatskaya, of the United Civic Party, and Elena Anisim, a linguist with ties to opposition activists, sends a clear if symbolic message that Lukashenko is anxious, both about his own internal […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on a range of countries’ space priorities and programs. This summer, at a meeting with government officials, researchers from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute announced that the first test launch of South Korea’s indigenous next-generation rocket would be delayed by 10 months, until late 2018. In an email interview, Daniel Pinkston, a professor at Troy University’s Seoul campus, discusses South Korea’s space program. WPR: What are South Korea’s space capabilities, in terms of its space-industrial complex, and who are its major international partners, in terms of space diplomacy and […]

Azerbaijanis went to the polls last month to vote in a referendum on 29 amendments to the constitution that would strengthen President Ilham Aliyev’s grip on power. Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission said that over 63 percent of Azerbaijanis came out to vote, more than the 25 percent necessary to validate the poll. Exit polls show that nearly 90 percent of those that voted backed all of the amendments. The official results are due to be announced on Oct. 21. The referendum included several controversial amendments, including one that would extend the president’s term in office from five to seven years. […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. Last month, Renho Murata became the first woman to head the opposition Democratic Party in Japan. She is the third woman to recently take up a prominent political position in Japan, following the appointment of Tomomi Inada as defense minister and the election of Yuriko Koike as governor of Tokyo. In an email interview, Linda Hasunuma, an assistant professor at Franklin and Marshall College, discusses women’s rights and gender equality in Japan. WPR: What […]

Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned. When it comes to the European Union, its leaders don’t even bother to treat us to music. Confronted with multiple crises on fronts both external and domestic, they seem content to drift nonchalantly toward the abyss. The question is not so much whether the EU as we know it will survive; it is already irrevocably altered by Brexit. The question is whether the ideals that the union has historically championed will continue to have any relevance in today’s political landscape in Europe and the world. The list of Europe’s many crises is well known, […]

In mid-September, Luc Adolphe Tiao, the last prime minister of Burkina Faso’s former president, Blaise Compaore, became the first official to be jailed for the shootings of unarmed demonstrators during the popular insurrection that ousted Compaore in 2014. Tiao, who was believed to have signed an order authorizing troops to fire into huge crowds of protesters two years ago, was formally indicted on murder charges and taken into custody. With Compaore in exile in neighboring Cote d’Ivoire, beyond the immediate reach of Burkina Faso’s courts, it has taken nearly two years for anyone in his government to be locked up […]

The Philippines completed an audit of its mining sector over the summer, which last month resulted in 10 mines being closed and another 20 being suspended for environomental violations. In an email interview, Minerva Chaloping-March, a research fellow at the Philippines-Australia Studies Centre at LaTrobe University, discusses the Philippines’ recent crackdown on the mining industry. WPR: How important is the mining sector for the Philippines’ economy, and what impact will the mine closures have on it? Minerva Chaloping-March: The Philippines is a major producer of nickel, gold and copper, and also exports silver, iron ore, chromium and zinc. However, recent […]