Domestic Politics Archive

Last year, shortly after being named managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in which she noted that the fund needs to look beyond purely economic factors in evaluating issues that may threaten macroeconomic stability in borrowing countries. Unfortunately, in its handling of the Greek debt crisis, the fund failed to implement Lagarde’s more holistic approach and instead limited itself to economic considerations in addressing the country’s woes. The results so far in Greece demonstrates the urgent need for deep reforms of IMF conditionality. In particular, moving forward, the […]

The Colombian rumor mill has been spinning for years with stories about secret negotiations between the government and Marxist guerrillas. With the buzz of speculation recently growing even louder, President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed in a speech to the nation on Aug. 27 that exploratory talks had, in fact, taken place. On Tuesday, Santos again went on national television to announce that peace talks between the Colombian government and the country’s main armed rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), will begin next month in Oslo, Norway, before moving later to Havana, Cuba. “It’s time to turn the […]

HONG KONG — A group of 10,000 demonstrators has surrounded government headquarters in Hong Kong to protest a controversial new National Education class being introduced in schools this fall. The course, the protesters argue, is just the latest example of Beijing’s attempts to control political discourse in the city. The government in Hong Kong claims it simply wants to boost students’ knowledge of and attachment to China. But the push to ensure that Hong Kongers are sufficiently patriotic comes straight from Beijing. Indeed, Chinese President Hu Jintao suggested introducing just such a course following huge street protests that toppled Hong […]

Angry Greek pensioners took to the streets in protests as the so-called “Troika” of inspectors from the European Commission returned to Athens this week. The inspectors are on a mission to oversee nearly 12 billion euros in cuts that the Greek government must deliver this month if it hopes to continue receiving funds from International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank lenders.

Qatar is reportedly in discussions with Germany to purchase 200 Leopard-2 tanks at a cost of roughly $2.5 billion. In an email interview, Christian Mölling, an associate in the international security division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), discussed Germany’s arms industry. WPR: What is the current state of Germany’s arms industry? Christian Mölling: German defense companies produce world-class products in the areas of armored vehicles and tanks as well as submarines and to some extent surface ships and electronics. There is no purely German company left in the aerospace sector, since they have been integrated […]

When Mali announced the formation of its latest transitional civilian government on Aug. 20, the new cabinet pointedly excluded representatives of the Islamist coalition that controls much of the territory in the country’s north. The new government, which retains interim President Dioncounda Traore and interim Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, has made fighting the Islamist rebels — including the Tuareg-led Ansar al Din movement, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Qaida offshoot the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) — a top priority. However, the government and external actors face barriers to success on the battlefield, […]

The Arab Spring has focused attention on democracy’s prospects in the Middle East. But the Arab world is not the only region at a democratic crossroads. In Africa and Asia, young democracies are coming under pressure to consolidate gains. In Europe, the financial crisis is putting postcommunist democratic institutions under strain. And in Latin America, a diverse variety of democratic governance remains healthy, but fragile. This WPR special report examines the state of democracy. Below are links to each article in this special report, which subscribers can read in full. Not a subscriber?Try our subscription service free for two weeks. […]

Clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland over the right to hold rival parades leave 13 policemen wounded. World News Videos by NewsLook