Domestic Politics Archive

Almost five months after Morocco’s leading Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party, or PJD, won a plurality in legislative elections, the country still does not have a government. In a region where Islamists in power are the exception—and whose political experiments, when they were in power, were short-lived—the PJD appeared well on its way toward a second term at the helm of the Moroccan government. But unlike past years, the task of building a coalition has proven difficult, if not impossible at this point. The usual coalition parties, all too eager in the past to join the government in […]

Earlier this week, as President Donald Trump released his revised travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries entering the United States, Israel announced a ban of its own: a law that prohibits the issuing of temporary visas and residency permits to any non-Israeli who has publicly supported or participated in or called for a boycott of Israel. The vaguely worded law, which passed by a comfortable margin of 18 votes in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, not only applies to supporters of the “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” movement, known as BDS, but of “any area under Israeli control”—a clear reference to […]

It was once almost axiomatic that Africa was a continent of coups, with the military coup d’etat the principal mechanism for regime change. The figures told their own story, with over 200 coups and attempted coups between many countries’ independence in the early 1960s and 2012. The post-independence narrative became wearily familiar, with periods of civilian rule punctuated by military takeovers. There was, however, a perceptible change from the 1990s onward as a result of the democratic wave that swept Africa following the end of the Cold War. Although fragile, incomplete and imperfect, this wave produced a popular intolerance for […]

Romania’s biggest protests since the fall of communism in 1989 have been widely hailed as a victory for people power and civic activism against a corrupt elite. The weeks-long mass demonstrations, which led to Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu’s new government backing down on controversial plans to weaken anti-corruption laws, energized those previously unengaged with politics. But long-term questions remain about democracy in Romania, where street protests have become increasingly frequent as Romanians lose faith in their political parties. Protests began in January against plans by the government, which is led by the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, or PSD, to effectively […]

PARIS — France’s presidential election veered further toward chaos and uncertainty this past week, when it was announced that Francois Fillon, the embattled nominee of the conservative Republicans party, will very likely be formally investigated for hiring his wife as an assistant while he was in parliament. That alone was not illegal, but there is no evidence she did any of the work for which she was handsomely paid. Back in early February, when the scandal broke, Fillon promised to withdraw from the race if an investigation was formally opened. In response to pressure from party leaders to immediately replace […]

Last month, police in Brazil’s southeastern state of Espirito Santo went on strike over pay and working conditions, creating a security vacuum that allowed for widespread violence and looting. The police reported 143 killings over a 10-day period, and the government deployed federal troops to stave off further violence in advance of Carnival celebrations at the end of February. In an email interview, Dennis Pauschinger, a sociologist and expert on Brazil’s security sector based at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland, discusses how the crisis speaks to larger problems plaguing Brazil’s security sector. WPR: What are some of the factors […]

KINSHASA, Congo — Since the Democratic Republic of Congo secured its independence in 1960, its people have become accustomed to living under unstable or dictatorial governments, but they entered 2017 especially unsure of where their country stands. At the heart of their uncertainty is the continuing refusal of President Joseph Kabila to clarify his long-term ambitions. But the death of a longtime opposition leader last month has only added to the confusion. Many Congolese remain convinced that Kabila aspires to a third term, currently forbidden by the constitution. Several of his influential supporters have openly advocated for a referendum that […]

Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. On a Saturday morning in October 2016, the website of Nepszabadsag, Hungary’s leading political daily and one of its longest-running publications, went offline. Its staff had been packing all week, preparing to move to a new office building, and so they suspected a technical glitch was to blame. But they soon began to text each other frantically: Some were unable to sign into their emails, and others had received hand-delivered letters from […]

Economic disputes, trade restrictions and public tirades are not usually the stuff of strong, bilateral partnerships. But that’s the nature of relations between Russia and Belarus these days, two geopolitical partners who have experienced an unusually bitter falling-out in recent months. Mutual frustration between Russia and Belarus isn’t exactly new. In the past few years, Moscow and Minsk have traded jabs on everything from dairy products to energy prices. The Russian jabs have typically been attempts to exert political and economic pressure on Minsk to make sure it stays loyal. For Belarus’ president, Alexander Lukashenko, tensions with Moscow have provided […]

Within the span of a week, Tunisia’s government was lauded abroad for passing a comprehensive anti-corruption law and lambasted at home for its muddled response to the growing number of its nationals returning from fighting among the ranks of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It should come as no surprise that Tunisia made headlines, on one hand, for progress on democratic reform and, on the other, for lackluster security policies. Relative to its neighbors, the country emerged relatively unscathed by the popular uprising that ousted former dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, and it has been […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss the implications of the Trump administration’s emphasis on hard power over soft power. For the Report, James Bargent talks with Peter Dörrie about early stumbles in the implementation of Colombia’s peace deal. If you’d like to support our free podcast through patron pledges, Patreon is an online service that will allow you to do so. To find out about the benefits you can get through pledging as little as $1 per month, click through to WPR’s Trend Lines Patreon page. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes […]

Just when the United States seems to be retreating from competition in global markets, and possibly even NAFTA, socialist Cuba is moving in the opposite direction. With the signing late last month of a new trade agreement with the 15 countries of the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, Cuba is looking to capitalize on trade and economic links with its neighbors. The feeling is mutual. The Caribbean countries have begun to see Cuba in a different light following the start of the normalization of relations between Havana and Washington and the prospect of the U.S. lifting, or at least relaxing, its […]

South Korea’s Constitutional Court must rule by June on whether to uphold the impeachment of beleaguered President Park Geun-hye. South Korea has been embroiled in scandal for months over Park’s alleged collusion with an unsanctioned adviser, her controversial friend Choi Soon-sil. If the court backs the National Assembly’s vote in December to impeach Park, who was accused of bribery, extortion and abuse of power, South Korea will have to hold an election within 60 days of the ruling. Most analysts and legal experts in Seoul have indicated that the court will likely decide to remove Park from office, potentially as […]

On April 16, Turks are set to vote “yes” or “no” on a package of 18 constitutional reforms that would abolish the current parliamentary system of government in favor of a strong executive presidency. The only politician who stands to gain more from the reforms’ passage than President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—who sees them as the flagship project of his political career—is Davlet Bahceli, the long-time leader of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP. Bahceli has decided to throw his full support behind Erdogan and the “yes” campaign. Indeed, without his support, Erdogan’s allies in parliament from his Justice and […]