Domestic Politics Archive

The president of Cyprus and the head of the country’s central bank acknowledged earlier this month that Cyprus may need to seek a bailout from the European Union’s European Stability Fund due to Cypriot banks’ exposure to the Greek crisis. In an email interview, Farid Mirbagheri, a professor of international relations at the University of Nicosia, discussed Cyprus’ position in the European debt crisis. WPR: What are the scope and causes of Cyprus’ current economic difficulties? Farid Mirbagheri: The main issue has been exposure to the Greek crisis. Cypriot banks hold around €5 billion ($6.2 billion) of Greek sovereign debt […]

Fighting between Muslim and Buddhist mobs broke out in Myanmar’s coastal state of Rakhine over the weekend, with the violence between minority Rohingya Muslims and majority Rakhine Buddhists set off by the rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine woman and the revenge attacks that followed. The unrest, which included arson, rioting and the killing of about 25 people, reveals some of the deep-rooted ethnic and religious tensions in the country, which has only recently begun to open up after decades of isolation and military rule. Jason Abbott, Aung San Suu Kyi Endowed Chair at the University of Louisville’s Center […]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has enjoyed a smooth ride since her inauguration in January 2011. Despite a series of corruption scandals that led to the resignation of seven of her cabinet members, she has suffered no real political damage after 18 months in office. But a flagging economy and a related crisis roiling small and medium-sized Brazilian banks could pose the greatest threat yet to her leadership. Rousseff’s Worker’s Party isn’t accustomed to operating under the politically corrosive effects of protracted economic troubles. Brazil’s economy, Latin America’s largest, has thrived under the party’s stewardship, recovering quickly from the financial crisis […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday not to let Russia be weakened by social shocks as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Moscow to protest his historic third term. World News Videos by NewsLook

On Sunday, Mexico tuned in to the second and final debate between the four candidates who will compete in the country’s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for July 1. The election’s outcome will determine to a large degree how the country, currently at a crossroads in its battle against organized crime, will reduce violence within its own borders while working with its neighbors to the north and south. “The impact of this election will depend on whether the next president is willing to put enough emphasis on the deep transformation that Mexico needs,” said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for Mexico and […]

After the International Criminal Court sent a team to Libya over the weekend to negotiate the release for four court employees arrested last week, the relationship between the Hague-based court and Libya’s new authorities seems to be as rocky as ever. But even as the court’s chances of securing the trial it wants in Libya appear to be vanishing, the arrests go to show that the ICC still has an important role to play in the transitioning country. The ICC has been involved in Libya’s transition since the U.N. Security Council referred the situation to the court in a prelude […]

This weekend, Spain followed Greece, Portugal and Ireland in seeking shelter under the European Union’s rescue umbrella in order to save its banks. Spain, perhaps prouder than the others, tried to avoid by all means a government bailout, fighting hard for a solution that would rescue its hard-hit banks directly. The problem for Madrid is that after two years of crisis, the EU has learned how to hook countries up to its bailout lifeline, but nobody knows how to move them off of it. The confession of failure might take a harder toll on the Spanish nation than the formal […]

Following the United States’ restoration of diplomatic relations with Myanmar and the European Union’s relaxation of economic sanctions targeting Naypyidaw earlier this year, international investors have lined up to discuss opportunities for future investment in the resource-rich country, which boasts the world’s 10th-largest natural gas reserves. However, substantial hurdles must be overcome if Myanmar is to join the ranks of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea as the next Asian tiger economy. In an address at the World Economic Forum in Bangkok earlier this month, Myanmarese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi raised a red flag for potential investors […]

COMBAT OUTPOST SABARI, Afghanistan — “Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!” droned the cold, mechanical voice of the warning system as the combat outpost’s radar detected another Taliban rocket launch. Soldiers ran for cover in the shelters that dot this little American army camp near the Pakistani border. Then three deep booms shook the ground as the rounds hit the hill behind the outpost. The Taliban almost always miss, but they try and try again almost every day, only to disappear afterward among the dusty Afghan hills. With the United States and its NATO allies looking ahead to 2014 as the date when […]

Hosni Mubarak, the ousted Egyptian president who turned power over to the military in the face of a popular uprising last year, was sentenced to life in prison over the weekend for failing to stop the killing of demonstrators during the protests that ultimately led to his downfall. But while Mubarak and his former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, were convicted of being “accessory to murder,” they and their codefendants were acquitted of more serious charges of having ordered the killings of nearly 1,000 protesters last year. Mubarak and his sons were further acquitted of corruption charges. The verdict brought tens […]

Probably only few Germans, especially among the younger generation, still remember the events of June 17, 1953, some 60 years ago. After a rise in bread prices, striking workers had started to demonstrate in the streets of East Berlin, in what was still called the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ). As would happen three years later in Budapest and 15 years later in Prague, the strike was broken by Soviet tanks. My grandfather was among those striking Berlin workers, and, having lost his job the day after the crackdown because of his participation, he fled to West Germany along with many […]

Thousands of Egyptians upset over the court ruling against toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak converged on Tahrir Square during the weekend. World News Videos by NewsLook

In May, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff formally inaugurated a truth commission to examine human rights abuses that occurred during Brazil’s period of military rule. In an email interview, Par Engstrom, a lecturer at the University College of London Institute of the Americas, discussed Brazil’s process of transitional justice. WPR: What are the major steps Brazil has taken to account for the abuses of the dictatorship era? Par Engstrom: Brazil remains a regional laggard in South America in terms of transitional justice. This is largely due to the 1979 Amnesty Law, adopted as a measure to facilitate a political opening in […]