The effects of the migration surge to the EU are being keenly felt at the union’s internal borders. For months now, “temporary” border checks have been imposed to stop people-smugglers from bringing migrants into the EU via the Balkan route. Now tensions are heating up ahead of a leaders summit next week to discuss the issue.
As was widely expected, China’s rubber-stamp parliament reappointed Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term as president of the People’s Republic of China on Friday. The highly choreographed pageant was another glimpse into just how successfully he has managed to tighten his grip on power since his rise to power in 2012.
A star TV presenter and the BBC became embroiled in the controversy over dehumanizing rhetoric used by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman to describe refugees last week. The dispute called further attention to the government’s immigration policies, which are contravening international law and out of step with the British public.
According to some pundits, class identity in the United States matters only insofar as it is a proxy for anti-immigrant attitudes and resentment toward racial minorities. But we shouldn’t be so quick to accept the idea that class identification is unimportant to Americans and therefore politically irrelevant.
International Women’s Day drew renewed media attention to the situation in Afghanistan, where ever since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, conditions for women have continuously deteriorated. This situation is particularly paradoxical because for the majority of Afghans, protecting women’s human rights is a key priority.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ center-right coalition won a landslide victory in the country’s parliamentary election, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict a salient part of her campaign. The results were interesting not only because of Kallas’ sweeping win, but also for the drop in support for other established parties.
Though Peru’s protests have entered a lull in recent weeks, its neighbors in the Andes are now experiencing their own political challenges, with the presidents of Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia having all hit their own rough patches in recent weeks. While the details of their political crises are different, two big trends connect them.
When Nayib Bukele was elected president of El Salvador four years ago, many observers hoped it might signal the start of a new era for the country, one characterized by accountability for the military and the defense of human rights. It’s hard to imagine how those hopes could have been more bitterly disappointed.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa named a new minister this week to tackle the country’s electricity crisis as part of a Cabinet shakeup ahead of general elections next year. But many regard it as a half-hearted measure that is unlikely to produce the tangible policy reforms they argue South Africa desperately needs.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have joined large-scale, unprecedented protests against the government’s attempts to pass legislation that would undermine judicial independence and weaken vital checks and balances. The historic nature of the ongoing protests, and what they portend for the future of the Jewish state, is inescapable.
Washington’s seemingly unconditional support for Israel stretches back across presidential administrations, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the bond between the U.S. and Israel is “unbreakable.” But it does have limits. What would it take, then, for Israel to bring the era of unquestioned U.S. support to an end?
European officials are whispering nervously about this week’s reports that a pro-Ukraine group, and not Russia, may have been behind the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline. Should that be proven, it would create an immensely awkward diplomatic headache for Europe, particularly the countries through which the pipeline passes.
Last week, the U.K. reached a new agreement with the European Union aimed at resolving their long-running dispute over trade rules for Northern Ireland under the Brexit divorce deal. But it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to satisfy unionists in Northern Ireland as well as hard-line Brexiteers in London.
Ever since the unveiling of OpenAI’s ChatGPT program, the field of AI has taken center stage in the competition over cutting-edge technology. And its impact on geopolitical contests, particularly in the political and military spheres, has the potential to be just as significant as its impact on business pursuits.
Increasingly, diasporas are powerful constituencies in their countries of origin. Despite their physical distance, they influence homeland politics and can also be instrumental in shaping relations between their countries of origin and residence. Yet, home and host government attitudes toward diasporas are decidedly mixed.
Turkey’s general elections, scheduled for May 14, were expected to be fateful events for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AKP party. But despite speculation that the earthquakes that devastated southern Turkey on Feb. 6 would dent Erdogan’s chances in the polls, recent developments appear to be going in his favor.
Sexual assault and violence within the U.S. military has become the focus of heightened attention in recent years, in part due to a series of high-profile cases. But despite recent efforts to address the problem, sexual assault in the military continues to rise, raising a number of issues from the standpoint of civil-military relations.