Last Friday, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced he would not seek reelection, leaving the country’s wide-open presidential race even more uncertain. Both the Peronist camp and the center-right opposition are now without a clear candidate, but whoever becomes Argentina’s next president will have their work cut out for them.
With roughly a year to go before general elections, Panamanians are frustrated with the country’s current conditions and skeptical of the major political parties’ ability to deliver change. While domestic issues are dominating debates, the election’s outcome will also have major implications for Latin America and the U.S.
While making the world safer for women and girls is the goal of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, it has historically focused on doing so in physical spaces. But as the emphasis on the digital age at this year’s annual CSW session made clear, its mission must expand to include harm and gendered violence that takes place online.
Along the path of Uganda’s EACOP oil pipeline project, farmers claim they were strong-armed into signing inadequate compensation agreements for their land, while oil companies tout economic progress and downplay allegations of misconduct. With development set to begin, the need to resolve these tensions is growing more urgent.
More than a decade since he came to power, Senegalese President Macky Sall is viewed as aloof and distant by the same citizens who propelled him to victory in 2012. He is now rumored to be considering a third-term bid, despite deepening social tensions and protests denouncing corruption, the high cost of living and human rights abuses.
The music industry’s intangible and less-noticed tangible contributions to the climate crisis—like the emissions used by streaming services and the environmental impact of touring—as well as the obstacles that hinder the mitigation of those contributions exemplify the issues faced by nearly every industry around the world.
U.S. policy in Latin America is now strongly shaped by the question of China’s involvement and influence there. But while the U.S. will not convince countries to turn away from Beijing, it could help governments negotiate a better and more fair playing field, for China and other foreign powers operating in their countries.
For Tunisia’s population, water shortages are only the latest addition to a broader array of difficulties, including mounting inflation and a collapsing currency. Many Tunisians are now turning against President Kais Saied’s authoritarian power grab, and the sight of dry water taps is fueling further discontent.
The pace of innovation when it comes to AI is leaving many outside observers, and even industry insiders, stunned. Some now worry about AI’s potential impact on the global economy and the role humans will play in it. The concerns are understandable, but we should not overreact. Humans will continue to thrive in the AI-driven economy.
Tensions are mounting in Brussels after four EU member states unilaterally banned grain imports from Ukraine. The moves are technically illegal, as trade policy can only be set at the EU level. But the Eastern European countries in question are panicking over a glut of grain that is starting to have domestic political consequences.
While many governments around the world promote green growth as a way of combatting the climate crisis, some have started to doubt whether this will be enough. Could degrowth, an alternative way of organizing society beyond economic growth, be the way to achieve rapid emissions reductions and a more equitable world?
Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted the global nuclear energy market, with unpredictable implications for global energy security. While the decoupling from Russian sources of nuclear fuel and reactors makes perfect sense to some policymakers, disruptions of the status quo entail significant costs—and sometimes risks.
Instead of the major economic crisis that was previously predicted, Latin America appears to be in a period of stagflation—growing too slowly to meet populations’ needs, with high but not crisis-level inflation. But several presidents are now questioning the independence of the central banks, a potential warning sign to the region.
African delegations flew to Washington this week for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s annual spring meetings. But those seeking a breakthrough on their key priorities—including inflation and debt distress—are likely to leave town disappointed at the lack of concrete gains made.
South Korea is emblematic of East Asia’s well-documented coming demographic crisis. Yet while the issue has preoccupied successive governments, including that of current President Yoon Suk Yeol, their proposed policy responses have failed to address the root of the problem: the country’s still-pervasive traditional gender roles.
A year after mass protests forced the resignation of the government, Sri Lanka is making some progress on its economic and debt crises. But the country is not out of danger. Its humanitarian crisis is far from over, and some of the forces that helped create the catastrophe are still embedded in the country’s centers of power.
The U.N.’s annual climate change conferences continue to play a key role in tackling the climate crisis. Not only do the COPs bring together stakeholders with an interest in reining in global warming, they also push the climate crisis to the very top of the world’s news agenda. The problem is, they are no longer fit for purpose.