Domestic Politics Archive

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nepal earlier this week, the first by an Indian prime minister in 17 years, ushered in a new chapter in relations between the two neighbors. The two-day visit on Aug. 3-4 has been described by media in both countries as a success and reflects Modi’s interest in forging better ties with neighbors since he assumed power in May. He is the first Indian prime minister to invite the leaders of all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation nations, including Pakistan, to his swearing-in on May 26. In June, he visited Bhutan, India’s […]

Global attention remains focused on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, especially in the wake of the tragic downing of the Malaysian commercial airliner MH17. But in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, the ongoing war with Russia is only one of several competing priorities. Attempts to restructure and reform Ukraine’s troubled economy have led to a series of political earthquakes. Two weeks ago, the governing coalition, which had been assembled after the Maidan protests drove former President Viktor Yanukovych from power, was dissolved, and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk offered his resignation. Then last week, Yatsenyuk’s resignation was rejected by Ukraine’s parliament, […]

On July 22, the Indonesian Election Commission declared that Jakarta Gov. Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had won the country’s presidential election. Even if the result is challenged in court, the margin of victory is wide enough for most to assume that Indonesia—the world’s fourth-largest nation, third-largest democracy and largest Muslim-majority country—will inaugurate Jokowi as its seventh president on Oct. 20 after a decade of stable leadership under outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Jokowi’s victory is nothing short of historic. By choosing a 53-year-old former furniture exporter over Prabowo Subianto, a former general and son-in-law of late dictator Suharto, Indonesians have elected […]