The ongoing war in Gaza will undoubtedly and permanently alter the relationship between Israel and Hamas as well as between Israelis and Palestinians. But despite what some observers are predicting, the Israel-Hamas war will do little to change the international system more generally or U.S. grand strategy more specifically.
Ever since Morocco normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in late 2020, the government has had to engage in an awkward balancing act—nurturing fast-growing political, economic and military relations with Israel while simultaneously portraying Rabat’s official position as remaining actively pro-Palestinian.
Opposition forces fighting against Myanmar’s military junta had been making progress in recent months, but on Oct. 27 they crossed a threshold, dealing a powerful blow to government forces and putting the regime on the defensive. The offensive in Myanmar’s eastern-most Shan state could be a turning point in the country’s civil war.
As preparations fall into place for the first in-person summit in four years between EU officials and their Chinese counterparts, hopes for constructive partnership have been displaced by mutual suspicion. Yet in hardening its stance toward Beijing, Brussels is ignoring weaknesses within China that could also generate risks.
The APEC Summit presents an opportunity for the U.S. to prioritize human rights in climate policy. To begin, this requires considering the conditions in which climate activists operate as a metric of successful climate response. And the human rights landscape across key U.S. partner states in the Indo-Pacific isn’t promising.
While China’s current economic malaise has multiple factors, there is something about President Xi Jinping’s pursuit of utopian policies that increasingly seems to weigh on the country. One manifestation of this despondency is the phenomenon of “lying flat,” a Chinese concept that closely equates to “opting out.”
The city of Shenzhen is looking for ways to adapt to China’s shifting economic landscape. But Shenzhen is not just another city. It was the birthplace and symbol of the Reform and Opening Up era. What future does that leave for Shenzhen, now that the China it once represented no longer exists under President Xi Jinping?
Fears of a commodities trap are once again inflaming politics across Latin America. The latest illustration of the tensions and tradeoffs at the heart of these confrontations comes from Panama, where recent protests have forced the country to restrict new mining projects and may shut down a globally significant copper mine.
Most international coverage of Panama’s drought focuses on shipping delays through the Panama Canal. Locals are more worried about its impact on potable water. More worrying is the fact that Panama is not the only Latin American country currently facing water scarcity. To the contrary, the entire region is in the grips of a dry spell.
As much as any other single development, China’s rise over the past two decades has remade the landscape of global politics. China rapidly transformed its economy from a low-cost “factory to the world” to a global leader in advanced technologies. Along the way, it has transformed global supply chains, but also international diplomacy.
Against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel’s Arab partners have faced pressure from their fiercely pro-Palestinian populations to address Gaza’s plight. Crucially however, they have also gravitated to the U.S. for security assurances amid fears of regional flare-ups and tensions with Iranian allies across the region.
If there is one thing the U.S. does better and more of than any other country, it is spend money on defense. U.S. defense spending, currently over $800 billion, is greater than the next 10 countries combined. Somewhat paradoxically, however, the massive level of U.S. defense spending isn’t enough. How is that possible?
In Nicaragua, the steady dismantling of democracy by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has been advancing for many years. But in the past couple of weeks, the Ortega-Murillo regime took control of the country’s Supreme Court, a dramatic move that arguably crossed the line into dictatorship.
Popular protests are on the rise, and they are increasingly going global. Over the past five years, popular movements demonstrating against fiscal austerity and corruption have brought down governments—in democracies and authoritarian regimes alike—from Europe and Latin America to Africa and Asia. And with the advent of new communication technologies and media platforms, what happens anywhere can be seen everywhere.
Today’s violent and complex world has drawn many historical analogies, particularly with the 1950s and the start of the Cold War. While the current geopolitical landscape does not feature two blocs in the Cold War sense, we can distinguish two families of countries or “worlds,” geographically, but above all politically and culturally.
In an information landscape where social media-driven news cycles often burn out in a day, engaging with the public responsibly over months and years has become one of the most difficult challenges that governments face. Yet this is what Kyiv must do as it becomes clear that the war in Ukraine will continue for the foreseeable future.
The atrocities accompanying the Israel-Hamas conflict have led many observers to ask if it makes sense to speak about the laws of war when armed actors seem only too willing to ignore them. But to say that the laws of war are ineffective is to misunderstand how they are meant to work—and do work—even when they seem to be ignored.