Paraguayan President Santiago Pena is attempting to market the country as a burgeoning destination for foreign investment. But weak rule of law and illicit enterprises continue to permeate Paraguay’s political institutions, threatening to set back Pena’s agenda, the country’s progress and wider regional security.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni used the annual Italy-Africa gathering—upgraded to a summit this year—to strategically frame her government’s new approach to Africa. However, the inherent contradictions of the event were not entirely concealed, revealing challenges that will necessitate nuanced approaches to resolve.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump upended what was once a relatively staid global economic and trade system. For all of the upheaval he created, though, Trump left office with only one clear-cut accomplishment: an updated NAFTA deal. And even as Trump sowed chaos in America’s trade relationships, most of the world reinforced its commitment to trade liberalization.
European governments are seeking to deepen their oil and gas partnerships with Libya, largely to diversify away from Russian supplies. Yet by neglecting internal challenges such as political discord, corruption and militias, they may jeopardize their own objectives as well as Libya’s path to stability and economic recovery.
President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious U.S. foreign policy agenda summed up by his favorite campaign tagline: “America is back.” Above all, that meant repairing the damage done to America’s global standing by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
The Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards is supposed to help Hollywood forge closer ties with foreign film industries. But flaws in the category’s rules and process have not only have made it highly politicized and often unfair, but have also prevented it from fulfilling its purpose.
There is no silver bullet for solving the humanitarian challenge on display in the Darien Gap, which thousands of migrants pass through daily. But any solution must involve creating sustainable economic opportunities for residents of border towns, so they are not drawn into the lucrative business of human smuggling.
Resource extraction continues to be a major source of revenue for both developing countries and wealthier nations alike. But the windfalls don’t come without risks. Meanwhile, the environmental impact of fossil fuels is driving the development of renewable energy sources. But the transition is slow to develop.
Over the past two decades, China became an increasingly powerful player in Latin America, displacing the U.S. as a top trading partner and strengthening its political influence in the region. But now, China’s growth has suddenly slowed, creating significant economic risks for Latin America—and opportunities for the United States.
A Hong Kong court ruled last week that the largest indebted property developer in the world, Evergrande, would be liquidated. The ruling opened up a slew of larger questions about the future of the Chinese economy, especially the relationships between the central government, local governments, the private sector and households.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel replaced the country’s economy minister, amid delays to planned price hikes for fuel and transportation that the government blamed on a cyberattack. The fate of the measures, which had been scheduled for Feb. 1, is now uncertain. But the economic crisis that made them necessary is exceedingly clear.
In April 2021, Cuba experienced a watershed moment when Miguel Diaz-Canel became the leader of the Cuban Communist Party, completing a political transition that began three years earlier when Diaz-Canel was inaugurated as president. Now, for the first time since the 1959 revolution, a Castro leads neither the country nor the party, making way for a new generation of leaders to chart the island nation’s path forward.
Djibouti has built its economic model around shipping services and maritime logistics, and among its most prominent partners is its landlocked neighbor, Ethiopia. To cater to Ethiopia’s needs, Djibouti has built a host of new infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, Ethiopia’s port deal with Somaliland has set off alarm bells in Djibouti.
When Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was elected chairperson of the ECOWAS last July, he underscored his commitment to defending democracy across the region, which had already seen a string of military coups. That could come back to haunt him, given recent developments in the region and ECOWAS’ performance under Tinubu’s leadership.