An elderly man surrounded by campaign posters sits on a bench in front of his home in Floroaica village, Calarasi county, Romania. Nov. 11, 2014 (AP photo by Octav Ganea, Mediafax).

Romanians vote Sunday for a new president after a tumultuous 10 years under incumbent Traian Basescu, who oversaw both European Union accession and an economic boom followed by a crisis, and has survived two attempts at impeachment. Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who heads the ex-Communist Social Democratic Party (PSD), is widely expected to win the vote, but he has faced a closer race than anticipated against liberal rival Klaus Iohannis. Ponta has been a controversial premier, criticized by both the EU and the U.S. for measures seen as undermining independent institutions after he came to power via a parliamentary coup […]

A Chadian soldier patrols the streets of Gao, northern Mali, Jan. 29, 2013 (AP photo by Jerome Delay).

In recent years, Chad has begun to emerge as a regional leader in Africa, playing a role in the 2012-2013 Mali conflict, contributing to the overthrow of President Francois Bozize in the Central African Republic and forming a significant military partnership with France in 2014. However, these signs of power mask an ongoing political stagnation in Chad and the failure of the government to make any serious improvements in living conditions for the vast majority of the population. Frustrations with how oil money has failed to deliver economic development, along with power struggles at the heart of the Chadian government, […]

Houthi Shiite rebels ride in a military truck while patrolling a street in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 27, 2014 (AP photo by Hani Mohammed).

One look at a map of the Middle East shows why Yemen, a small country bereft of wealth or natural resources, has the potential to create serious problems not just for its neighbors but also for the global economy. Tiny, impoverished and turbulent, Yemen has escaped the spotlight mostly because the troubles in other parts of the region look more acute and more urgent. That, however, is likely to change. Over the past couple of months, the ground in that arid strip on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula has shifted. In domestic terms, what has unfolded is a sudden […]

Moroccan King Mohammed VI waves to the crowd as he stands in a limousine during a ceremony of allegiance, at the king’s palace in Rabat, Morocco, July 31, 2014 (AP photo by Abdeljalil Bounhar).

Last week, Morocco announced that it would increase intelligence and military support to the United Arab Emirates, ramping up its involvement in the coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS). This should come as no surprise, as Morocco has been the target of threats by IS, and is also keen to maintain its position as a reliable Arab partner and funding recipient for the United States and Gulf powers against terrorism. Morocco is technically part of the 60-nation U.S.-led coalition against IS, but is listed with the likes of Tunisia, Portugal, Mexico and others as having an unspecified commitment. Beyond […]

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast at a lunch banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Nov. 12, 2014 (AP photo by Greg Baker).

Inside the United States, supporters of President Barack Obama have all sorts of explanations for the defeat handed the Democratic Party in last week’s midterm elections, which not only increased the Republican majority in the House of Representatives but also gave the GOP control of the Senate. Democrats’ failure to mobilize their traditional voters to turn out at the polls; accusations of voter-suppression techniques, which disproportionally impact those more likely to cast ballots for the Democratic Party; and the Republicans’ successful efforts at playing up anxieties about the economy, Ebola and the so-called Islamic State (IS) have all been put […]

Pablo Iglesias, center, at a Podemos rally in Malaga, Spain, May 17, 2014 (photo by Flickr user cyberfrancis licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license).

It was the poll that sent shockwaves through the nation. On Nov. 2, El Pais, Spain’s newspaper of record, unveiled what it called a “political earthquake.” Polling data suggested that Podemos, a left-wing party organized only in January of this year, was poised to win the 2015 national elections, besting the ruling, conservative Popular Party (PP), which enjoys a clear majority of seats in the Spanish parliament, and the leading opposition party, the venerable Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), which last governed from 2004 to 2011. The poll showed that support for Podemos grew from 13.8 percent in October to 27.7 […]

Sunset in the Arctic, Oct. 14, 2011 (photo by Flickr user MarineBugs licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license).

In a bid to protect its own interests in the Arctic, and wary of NATO’s growing attention to the region, Russia is set to reactivate former Soviet-era bases around the North Pole. But the Kremlin would do well to monitor the actions in the Arctic of its occasional partner and possible future rival, China, rather than those of its trans-Atlantic adversary. With global warming melting ice and making northern sea routes more passable, both Arctic and non-Arctic nations are competing for access to the mineral, hydrocarbon and fishing resources estimated to lie under the North Pole. The race is on, […]

Voters wait to cast their votes at a polling station in Gaberone, Oct. 16, 2009 (AP photo by Monirul Bhuiyan).

Last month, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party narrowly won a majority of seats in parliament. In an email interview, Gape Kaboyakgosi, senior research fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development and Policy Analysis, discussed Botswana’s domestic politics. WPR: What are the reasons behind the ruling Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP) recent decline in support? Gape Kaboyakgosi: A number of factors led to the electoral decline of the BDP. First, for the first time ever, the BDP broke apart, leading to the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) by several longtime BDP members. Their resignations deprived the BDP of experienced, […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 14, 2014. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service).

The Russian ruble hit an all-time low of 48.7 rubles to the dollar earlier today, a casualty of escalating sanctions from the United States and the European Union in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Beyond the sanctions, Russia’s economic outlook is increasingly grim given the recent drop in global oil prices. At the same time, the Moscow Stock Exchange has announced that currency trades between the ruble and the Chinese yuan reached an all-time high in October, increasing 80 percent over the previous month. The increase in currency trading is a direct result of a currency swap deal Russia […]

A man rides a bicycle past a billboard of APEC China 2014 with its slogans near the venues for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, China, Nov. 7, 2014. (AP photo by Andy Wong).

Next week, China will host 20 heads of state at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Beijing, the biggest international event held in China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012. In addition to advancing some of APEC’s standard agenda items from previous years, China is expected to use the summit as a platform to push for several regional integration initiatives of its own. While these proposals do have economic benefits for other Asian nations, their progress may be undermined by differences among APEC members, principally the United States and China, over how to promote trade […]

The Oosterscheldekering storm surge barrier, Burgh-Haamstede, the Netherlands, Feb. 11, 2011 (photo by Flickr user vtveen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license).

In September, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte offered assistance to Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on water management after a dike was breached, forcing over 700,000 Pakistanis to flee their homes. In an email interview, Mariska Heijs, training and research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael,” discussed the Netherlands’ water management diplomacy. WPR: How prominently does water management diplomacy fit into the Netherlands’ wider foreign aid and development policies, and what expertise does the Netherlands offer? Mariska Heijs: Water is one of the four themes of the Netherlands’ foreign aid and development policy, alongside security and […]

People wait in line to enter a small market to try to buy items like disposable diapers, laundry detergent and razors in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Oct. 23, 2014 (AP photo by Ariana Cubillos).

High-stakes political tensions are nothing new to the socialist government of Venezuela. The late President Hugo Chavez seemed to become invigorated by class struggle and the passionate protests it engendered. The strife energized his supporters and fortified the faithful. His heir, Nicolas Maduro, has also faced fierce opposition protests and has responded forcefully, imprisoning the most vociferous of opposition challengers. But the substance, character and context of complaints have changed. The challenge is growing exponentially riskier for the Venezuelan president. The street protests from regime opponents have quieted down, replaced with something much more ominous for Maduro. Just as Venezuela’s […]

A man walks past an election poster of Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa, May 9, 2014 (AP photo by Ben Curtis).

Since May 2009, Jacob Zuma’s leadership of South Africa has played out against a backdrop of corruption scandals and other damaging revelations that have drained the lifeblood from his presidency. Crisis management has effectively become Zuma’s modus operandi, with short-term political survival eclipsing the need to provide South Africa with stable and effective governance. Zuma’s re-election last May, following the decisive, if qualified, victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in national elections, did not provide the hoped-for new beginning. That has the ANC hierarchy scrambling. Zuma contaminates contemporary South African politics so much that it is difficult to envisage […]

View of Kathmandu, Nepal, July 7, 2013 (photo by Flickr user sharadaprasad licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

Nepal will host the 18th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) later this month. In an email interview, Rajan Bhattarai, member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), discussed Nepal’s relations with its neighbors. WPR: How extensive are Nepal’s diplomatic and trade ties with other countries in South Asia, and in what areas? Rajan Bhattarai: Nepal is one of the oldest countries in South Asia and it was the first country in the region to establish diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in 1934, well before any other countries […]

An oil well undergoes testing in the Lake Albertine region of western Uganda, 2010 (AP photo by Monitor Publications Ltd).

KAMPALA, Uganda—As he delivers his lecture from the breezy, pink-hued classroom, Robert Rutaro is optimistic about Uganda’s future in oil. An attorney with a master’s degree in oil and gas law from Scotland, Rutaro returned home this January to find a job in Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and now doubles as a lecturer at the Institute of Petroleum Studies-Kampala (IPSK), a two-year-old university offering a range of degree programs in oil and gas sector management. Since 2006, when the Anglo-Irish firm Tullow discovered East Africa’s first commercially viable oil in the vicinity of Uganda’s Lake Albert, the country has been […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses the media at the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague, Netherlands, March 24, 2014 (AP photo by Yves Logghe).

Russia’s decision to skip the first planning meeting for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) is an alarming sign that U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine and other issues may disrupt their nuclear security partnership. At best, the Russian decision may simply reflect an attempt to signal irritation at the U.S. by disrupting one of Washington’s highest priorities, that of countering nuclear terrorism. At worst, it may represent a decision to boycott the entire NSS process simply because the United States is hosting it. In either case, the Russian decision is extremely counterproductive. In the short term, it risks sabotaging the tacit […]

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