Domestic Politics Archive

Even for a man who was no stranger to government shackles, Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye’s arrest last Thursday was particularly vicious. Though it was Besigye’s fourth arrest since April 11, when he and his supporters began holding “walk to work” protests against rising fuel and commodity prices, this one was met with disbelief across this East African nation of 33 million. A day after being released on bail following his previous arrest, Besigye was intercepted in his vehicle at a Kampala roundabout by plainclothes officers, who smashed the car’s windows with a hammer and a pistol, and doused Besigye’s […]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must have winced when he heard Hamas’ reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden. For years the PA has worked to clean up its image, from that of the fatigue-clad, pistol-packing Yasser Arafat to one of a mainstream, diplomatically palatable would-be country ready to join the international community. But just days after Abbas’ Fatah reached a reconciliation agreement with its rival Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ top man in Gaza, praised bin Laden as a “martyr” and an “Arab holy warrior.” Making matters worse, Haniyeh condemned the United States for killing the head of al-Qaida […]

Chinese truckers at the port of Shanghai ended a three-day strike on April 23 after local authorities released a communiqué promising the reduction of logistics fees and attempts to mitigate the effect of rising fuel prices. The incident made headlines in global media coverage, as it threatened operations in the world’s largest port. But it is just the latest in a widespread pattern across China, with similar protests by independent truckers and taxi drivers angered at rising fuel costs taking place on a regular basis in all Chinese cities. The mix of repression and accommodation shown in Shanghai is also […]

The brief flare-up of fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops that killed 10 people last month was largely portrayed as a dispute over which country rightfully controls a Hindu-Buddhist temple that has stood along the border between the two for nearly a millennium. Close observers of the region, however, explain that the recent troop buildups and violence are actually the product of a primarily manufactured conflict driven by nationalists scrambling to maintain a hold on power in both countries. “Basically what you have here is a war of convenience between two governments that would both benefit from a skirmish that […]

Thailand intends to close camps housing 140,000 refugees from neighboring Myanmar, in a decision announced shortly after Myanmar installed a new nominally civilian government following recent elections. In an email interview, Renaud Egreteau, a research assistant professor at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, discussed the regional implications of Myanmar’s new government. WPR: Has the change in government affected domestic or foreign policies? Renaud Egreteau: If a new civilian structure has replaced the former junta — an army-controlled “State Council” as it has been known since 1988 — changes in modes of governance, political practices and […]

As Syria intensifies its clampdown on anti-government protesters, international pressure on the regime is being stepped up. It comes as new amateur video whose authenticity cannot be verified purports to show mass arrests in Deraa.

China’s long-awaited census results, finally released last week, put the Chinese population at 1.37 billion, an increase of only about 74 million people over the past decade. That represents a low annual growth rate of 0.57 percent, which has resulted in the premature aging of China: Those older than 60 now account for more than 13.3 percent of the population, while those younger than 14 make up 16.6 percent. But probably the most unwelcome aspect of the census results is that China’s sex ratio at birth has risen once again. There are normally between 105 and 107 baby boys born […]

Since February, Burkina Faso has been shaken by major protests led by students, merchants and members of the country’s security forces. President Blaise Compaoré has responded with a combination of government reshuffles, outreach to aggrieved factions and repression. Yet unrest has increased, with a large crowd gathering in the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday to demand Compaoré’s departure. The protests reflect both economic and political frustration. Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation whose economy relies on cotton and gold exports, is one of the poorest countries in West Africa, with an average life expectancy of less than 54 years and a per […]

The pro-democracy uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have moved crisis-ridden Pakistan out of the global spotlight. This is unfortunate, because Pakistan’s timid democratic resurgence faces a variety of obstacles, and its stability is more uncertain than ever before. To expect that Pakistan may soon experience a similar democratic transformation is not only excessively optimistic, but also ignores recent history: Pakistan exhausted its own “Arab Street” moment in 2007, when Gen. Pervez Musharraf was forced to resign following demonstrations by a diverse and vibrant civil society movement led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. That was […]

President Barack Obama reshuffled his national security team last week, and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. The White House proclaimed that this was the “strongest possible team,” leaving unanswered the question, “Toward what end?” Obama’s choices represent the continued reduction of the role of security as an administration priority. That fits into his determined strategy to reduce America’s overseas military commitments amid the country’s ongoing fiscal distress. Obama foresees a smaller, increasingly background role for U.S. security in the world, and these selections feed that pattern. First, there is Leon Panetta’s move from director of the Central Intelligence Agency to […]