Liberian President George Weah.

Liberia is scheduled to hold its next general election in October, a vote that will determine the country’s next president and its national lawmakers. Amid domestic challenges, as well as a growing fear of democratic backsliding in the region, the upcoming polls could have major domestic and regional ramifications.

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The Biden administration’s policy approach to the Middle East has come under recent criticism, and its Indo-Pacific policy and its role in Africa are up for debate. But a key region seems to be flying under the radar: Latin America. What is U.S. policy toward its own neighborhood? Does the U.S. even have a policy toward the region?

The Eurovision voting results sparked controversy among politicians in Ukraine, Russia, and the UK, igniting discussions about politics and Europe.

Europe’s eyes are focused on Liverpool in the U.K. this week, as the city hosts the 67th annual Eurovision Song Contest, the most-watched annual live television event in the world. In the past, Eurovision has always tried to keep politics out of the contest. But the war in Ukraine has changed all that.

In the Greek elections, the economy was a key issue for voters as they chose between the incumbent New Democracy party, led by Mitsotakis, and the opposition party SYRIZA, both with different approaches to politics.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis won the country’s 2019 elections promising to stabilize Greece’s economy and enact a law-and-order security agenda. In his own way, Mitsotakis has delivered on those promises. Nevertheless, he and his ruling party face an uphill battle to hold onto power in the upcoming snap elections.

Chileans will have the chance to vote on a new constitution and referendum, following the election of Boric who promised to tackle crime and improve politics.

Chileans have once again dealt President Gabriel Boric a major setback, handing an overwhelming victory to the right-wing opposition in a vote for a new Constitutional Council. The outcome all but ensures that Chile’s next constitution will fail to bring about the progressive changes Boric and his supporters had envisioned.

China's relations with Australia have been strained in recent years, and the Australian government has criticized China's crackdown on press freedom, including the detention of Cheng Lei.

More than 1,000 days after being imprisoned, Australian journalist Cheng Lei is still behind bars in China awaiting a verdict on spying charges. But her case does not appear to be directly work-related. It is more likely that Cheng was collateral damage of bilateral tensions between Australia and China at the time of her detention.

Canada's marijuana legalization has led to a decrease in the illegal market and an increase in regulation.

A growing number of jurisdictions worldwide have recently moved toward some form of cannabis regulation. Moving away from prohibition makes sense, but cannabis legalization has not been without its challenges. One trend in particular gets little attention: the complicity of legal cannabis corporations in the illicit cannabis trade.

Russia has been using propaganda to spread misinformation about the Ukraine war, and its state-owned news agency Sputnik has been a key tool in this effort.

The Russia-Ukraine war has had major global implications. Some disruptions appear relatively straightforward to solve, but the realm of information security does not lend itself to quick fixes. Central and Eastern Europe provides several hard-learned lessons in how Russian disinformation is used and how it might be countered.

The civil war in Sudan has created a crisis, and the Rapid Support Forces are a warlord group that is exacerbating the conflict.

The commanders of armed groups in African countries are often portrayed as erratic tyrants with little understanding of the world—in both Hollywood films and in news coverage. Yet as clashes in Sudan escalate into civil war, it is becoming increasingly clear that the geopolitical sophistication of such warlords has been underestimated.

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The Arab League announced the immediate reinstatement of Syria as a member on Sunday, opening the door to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s participation in the league’s upcoming summit on May 19. The diplomatic breakthrough affirms Assad’s legitimacy and confirms the acceptance across the region that he has won Syria’s civil war.

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Though the Iran-Saudi Arabia normalization deal was mediated by China, Baghdad played an important role in pushing it across the finish line. That diplomatic initiative reflects Iraq’s broader efforts toward regional reintegration, which has been a key priority, not least because regional animosities often play out inside Iraq.

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This week, Title 42—the pandemic-era measure curtailing immigration across the U.S. southern border—is expiring. But a new rash of efforts to regulate the flow of asylum-seekers compromises U.S. obligations under both domestic and international law, potentially putting U.S. civil servants implementing these policies at legal risk.

The Quad, a security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, has strengthened relations between its members, particularly on issues of foreign policy and military cooperation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a strong supporter of the Quad, and he has worked to deepen ties with Australia and Japan.

Relations between Australia and India are at a critical juncture amid a deepening of bilateral ties. With engagement at an all-time high, sustained by a mutual interest in balancing China and ensuring a stable order in the Indo-Pacific, Canberra and New Delhi appear poised to consolidate the growing expansion of their partnership.

William Ruto, Kenya's President, is working to improve the country's economy and foreign policy while also addressing political issues and security concerns.

Three visits to Nairobi this week by major dignitaries is the latest indication of a recognition by global actors of Africa’s increasing importance in international affairs—and Kenya’s aspiration to be a major voice for Africa in global affairs. But Nairobi must now demonstrate its readiness to assume such a responsibility.

President Biden's foreign policy in the Middle East includes navigating complex relations with both Israel and Iran while also addressing political and security concerns in the region.

Despite minimal payoff from U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last summer, Washington has nonetheless scored some diplomatic wins over the past year. But the gains Washington has made have now run into significant yet predictable headwinds, highlighting the difficulties facing Biden’s regional agenda.

President Biden's administration is seeking to scale back the US military's presence in the Middle East while also strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia in the areas of economy and politics.

The U.S. military commitment to the Middle East has long been a core principle of U.S. foreign policy, stemming from the conviction that it keeps the region from falling into chaos and that a retreat would embolden enemies there and around the world. But the world is changing, and so should U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

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The European Commission has proposed harmonizing national criminal laws against corruption and increasing anti-corruption penalties across the European Union. But some Eastern European member states, like Hungary, Poland and Romania, have bristled against the EU interfering in their national practices.

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