Domestic Politics Archive

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the world. Russia recently passed a law to reduce the punishment for domestic violence to a fine and a short jail sentence. Though ostensibly an effort to prevent the separation of families over false charges of abuse, the move has been attacked by critics who argue it will lead to impunity for abusers. In an email interview, Ira Kosterina, program coordinator for gender at the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s Russia office, discusses women’s rights and gender equality […]

Perched on a hill above the tiny village of Carrizal in northern Colombia, the camp that was supposed to be housing 300 guerrilla fighters is nothing more than a wooden shack surrounded by a muddy field. Two weeks after the Dec. 31 deadline for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym, FARC, to demobilize, the only guerillas in sight are the 11 men that make up the camp’s construction crew. “There is no water. There is no electricity. There are no houses. None of the necessary things that the guerrillas need to arrive at those points […]

Ahead of parliamentary elections in May, Algeria’s fractious Islamist parties have announced unlikely new sets of electoral blocs. The confusing new coalitions are not just the latest iteration of the alphabet soup of Algeria’s Islamists. They also reflect the enduring limitations of Islamist party politics, which present an incomplete picture of political Islam in Algeria. The Movement for a Society of Peace, or MSP, Algeria’s largest Islamist party, declared a new alliance with the Front for Change, a splinter group that broke away from the MSP in 2008. Three other prominent Islamist parties—al-Bina al-Watani, al-Adala and al-Nahda—said earlier that they […]

Earlier this month, protests broke out in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a northern suburb of Paris, after police allegedly raped a 22-year-old black man, known only as “Theo L.,” with a baton during an I.D. check. One police officer was charged with rape, and two with assault. Despite a visit by French President Francois Hollande to Theo’s hospital bedside in an effort to calm the situation, rallies and riots, some violent, spread across the suburbs of Paris where immigrant and immigrant-origin communities are concentrated. The protests soon made their way to central Paris, drawing thousands to Place de la Republique by the end […]

The liberation of the Libyan city of Sirte from the self-proclaimed Islamic State late last year seemed like a major step in stabilizing Libya and combating terrorism in North Africa. But Libya’s still-stalled political dialogue and internal rifts have tempered any gains. Despite—or perhaps because of—the terms of the U.N.-backed peace deal signed in Morocco in December 2015 to form a unity government, Libya remains plagued by strife between two main rival blocs in eastern and western Libya, which are unable to find common ground. The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, or GNA, that was set up 14 months ago […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on income inequality and poverty reduction in various countries around the world. Last year, millions of South Koreans joined marches to demand that President Park Geun-hye step down over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal. But the protests also drew on popular grievances over growing economic inequalities. In an email interview, Anthony P. D’Costa, chair and professor of contemporary Indian studies at the University of Melbourne and editor of “After-Development Dynamics: South Korea’s Engagement with Contemporary Asia,” discusses income inequality in South Korea. WPR: What is the extent of income […]

Indonesia has one of the world’s greatest stores of natural resources, but it can sometimes be tricky getting them out of the ground. Over 20 percent of the world’s tin comes from this archipelagic nation. In West Papua province, the Grasberg mine contains the world’s largest store of gold and the world’s third-largest store of copper. Majority-owned and operated by American mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, the mine is home to an estimated $100 billion in reserves. But at the moment, Freeport is exporting very little ore and has begun laying off its workforce at the mine amid a standoff with the […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about workers’ rights in various countries around the world. Dockworkers in Spain announced a series of strikes yesterday to protest a government plan to allow ports to hire nonunion workers. The strikes are set to begin March 6, although talks continue between the government and the unions. In an email interview, Alexandre de le Court, a visiting professor at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona and member of the UPF Research Group in Labor Law and Social Security Law (greDTiSS), discusses labor rights in Spain. WPR: How robust are […]

On May 19, Iranians will go to the polls to choose their president for the 12th time since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. The incumbent, President Hassan Rouhani, will almost certainly be one of the contenders, once Iran’s powerful Guardian Council confirms his candidacy. The upcoming elections will inevitably be a referendum, in part, on Rouhani’s track record, especially his promise to open up Iran’s economy after the nuclear agreement that lifted international sanctions. Unlike the American system, with its excruciatingly long election seasons, the official Iranian election calendar is deliberately short. The week-long official registration of candidates […]

Earlier this month, Somalia’s parliament selected Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former prime minister, to be the country’s new president. Mohamed, known by his nickname, “Farmajo,” is popular among the army and is well-liked by the general public for his efforts to tackle corruption during his time as prime minister. In an email interview, Ken Menkhaus, a professor at Davidson College, discusses politics in Somalia. WPR: How much support does President Mohamed have in parliament, as well as among local Somalian powerbrokers and the general population? Ken Menkhaus: We know Farmajo has support in parliament because it was the members of […]

The emergence of a brash and little-known 31-year-old as the public face of a dynamic new style of leadership in Saudi Arabia has caught international attention over the past two years. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, whose rise began in 2015, has promoted his so-called Saudi Vision 2030 initiative as an instrument of economic transformation in an era of plummeting oil prices. Against the backdrop of emergency spending cuts in 2015 that stove off financial ruin, the project aims to balance the Saudi budget by 2020, wean the country off of energy subsidies, and reduce the role […]

For the past three weeks, much of Chile was burning. The country is prone to seasonal wildfires, but this year, the worst fires in Chilean history raged out of control. By the time they receded, 11 people were dead, nearly 1.5 million acres of land were burnt, and 1,644 homes were destroyed. Smog choked the air in the capital, Santiago, and major cities narrowly escaped devastation. One village in central Chile, Santa Olga, was burnt completely to the ground. For many observers, these devastating fires are a reminder of the advancing perils of climate change. But in Chile, they also […]

When Donald Trump shocked the world by winning the presidency of the United States, just a few months after British voters opted to leave the European Union, the rise of rightist, anti-establishment populists started to look like an inexorable trend across the West and elsewhere. To be sure, the twin successes of right-wing, anti-immigrant insurgencies did energize like-minded movements in other countries. And yet, they also triggered another reaction—a paradoxical, if not altogether unpredictable response. Trump’s win, and to a lesser extent Brexit, made tangible the threat of what had until recently been dismissed as a curious fringe phenomenon. By […]

Is the United States a rogue state? Is it a failed or failing state? The answer, of course, is no, or at least not yet. But the hyperbole is intentional, meant to underscore how each day of Donald Trump’s presidency brings us deeper into the realm of the unimaginable. As I filed this column, the latest scandal to engulf the administration is the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn less than a month after inauguration day. According to the White House’s own account, Flynn’s misdeed was not to have discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Moscow’s ambassador to the […]

After sending signals of his plans to retire from politics for nearly a year, Angola’s president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos—the second-longest-ruling leader in Africa—announced earlier this month that he will step down at the end of his current mandate and not run in August elections. That will bring an end to a presidency that began in 1979, when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. The transition from dos Santos’ rule is the most significant political event in Angola since its independence from Portugal in 1974, and comes at a time of deep economic and social crisis in the oil-rich […]

In a decree late last month, Argentina’s president, Mauricio Macri, announced new immigration rules that risk repudiating the country’s history and could presage a painful break with its neighbors. The policy changes themselves are relatively minor, explicitly prohibiting the entry of any foreign national with past involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and several other activities associated with organized crime. The new measures also expedite the deportation of all foreign-born residents implicated in similar crimes, whether these were committed in Argentina or in other countries. While the threshold for implication necessary for deportation remains uncertain, it can be […]

Though the government has demonstrated interest in improving women's rights in China, economic and security issues far outweigh gender concerns. Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the world. [marketing]blockbuster[/marketing] China passed its first law against domestic violence in 2015, but a key part of the legislation—issuing restraining orders against abusers—has not been properly implemented, putting women at risk. In an email interview, Andrea den Boer, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, discusses women’s rights in China. WPR: What is the […]