Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia receive a package of humanitarian services, April 1, 2015 (European Union photo by Malini Morzaria).

Throughout history, one way the world has learned about severe political and humanitarian crises in remote locations is from unexpectedly large flows of refugees. When massive numbers of people decide to take enormous risks to escape the country of their birth, leaving their possessions and their loved ones behind, it is a sign of crisis—and often a portent of worse things to come. That’s why the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea, where thousands of would-be refugees have drowned seeking to reach Europe’s shores, are calling urgent attention to a seldom-mentioned crisis: the quiet catastrophe in Eritrea. The most shocking […]

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko watches a military exercise of the Ukrainian armed forces in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, April 25, 2015 (Presidential Press Service photo by Mykola Lazarenko via AP).

The average European leader probably lacks the number of brain cells required to process the sheer amount of bad news he or she currently receives on a daily basis. This is not because they are stupid, but because there is so much dire news to digest. In the past two weeks, over 1,000 migrants have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean; there has been fresh fighting in Ukraine; and the Greek government has careened toward total bankruptcy. The European Union has responded to this torrent of crises with a mixture of big talk, half-measures and fraying tempers. At a summit […]

Yemeni women pray during a rally marking the third anniversary of the revolution, Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 7, 2014 (AP photo by Hani Mohammed).

When Kawkab Althaibani demonstrated in Change Square in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, during the 2011 protests against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, her heart, she recalls, “was full of hope.” Today, six weeks after Houthi militias surrounded her house in Sanaa looking for her husband, an outspoken critic of the group, she is in Istanbul, where she fled the insecurity of Yemen’s civil war to seek asylum for her and her family. Althaibani is just one of many Yemeni women who once believed that the 2011 uprising was the harbinger of a more moderate, more inclusive and peaceful Yemen. Despite violence from […]

A man holds a poster reading “We Stand against Xenophobia” during a protest against recent attacks on immigrants, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 23, 2015 (AP photo by Themba Hadebe).

Last week, a wave of xenophobic violence struck two of South Africa’s largest cities, Johannesburg and Durban. Mobs torched foreign-owned shops and killed seven people in the country’s worst attacks against foreigners since 2008, when over 60 people were killed in similar incidents. The localized unrest quickly became a regional crisis, as multiple African governments issued angry statements on behalf of their citizens, millions of whom have migrated to South Africa in search of economic opportunity since the end of apartheid. South African President Jacob Zuma has been scrambling to respond; so far he has deployed the army to quell […]

Angolans at the beach in front of the capital skyline, marked by new construction, Luanda, Angola, March 8, 2010 (photo by Flickr user mp3ief, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license).

Forty years after its independence from Portugal and 13 years since the end of the civil war that immediately followed, Angola has made great progress in consolidating peace and stability, but continues to face many challenges. Foremost among them is managing an economic crisis, exacerbated by staggering inequality, while avoiding the potential social and political fallout it could generate. The country’s political landscape could also prove perilous: The ruling party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), faces both a determined opposition and a potential internal battle over who will succeed longtime President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. The […]

Afghan women attend a literacy course supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund, Bamyan, Afghanistan, April 29, 2008 (U.N. photo by Sebastian Rich).

When Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in late March, he suggested that “one day we’ll see an Afghan woman president.” His remarks came only a few days after a scene of horror had unfolded in Kabul. A 27-year-old Afghan woman and theology student named Farkhunda had been tortured in an ordeal that lasted for two hours. Hundreds of people watched, including the police, who stood by without intervening. The enraged crowd accused her—falsely, as it turned out—of having burned a Quran. They ultimately set her on fire and tossed her […]

A worker gives the finishing touches as he cleans a wall announcing the upcoming Summit of the Americas outside of the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City, April 6, 2015 (AP photo by Arnulfo Franco).

The Summit of the Americas, opening in Panama on Friday, was where U.S. President Barack Obama planned to mark a turning point in U.S. relations with Latin America, highlighting a tangible example of his foreign policy legacy. Obama had hoped to bask in the triumph of his new Cuba policy. Instead, the event is likely to prove much more diplomatically ambiguous and challenging, both for the United States and the almost three-dozen hemispheric leaders attending the forum. Undoubtedly, the main event, the one garnering the most headlines and the most indelible images, will be the one that brings together Obama […]

Street in Havana, Cuba, May 3, 2014 (photo by Flickr user ledgard licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

Last week, officials from the United States and Cuba held their first formal talks on human rights since both sides announced they were working to restore diplomatic ties last December. In an email interview, Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discussed the human rights situation in Cuba. WPR: What are the major human rights violations committed by the Cuban government, and are the policies driven more by the central government or by local actors? Ted Piccone: The Cuban government has a mixed record when it comes to the full panoply of internationally recognized human rights. On political […]

A man holds a framed image of the late President Hugo Chavez during a pro-government rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of his death, Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 28, 2015 (AP photo by Fernando Llano).

Two years after the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela finds itself mired in crisis. A drop in energy prices has devastated an already weak economy, while a crackdown on civil society has stifled the political opposition. This report draws on articles covering Venezuela from the outset of President Nicolas Maduro’s tenure. Subscribers can download a PDF copy using the download button in the toolbar above (you must be logged in to see the button). Non-subscribers can purchase a PDF copy for $5.99. Chavez’s Legacy In Post-Chavez Venezuela, a Dystopian Drama UnfoldsBy Frida GhitisNov. 21, 2013 Strategic Posture Review: VenezuelaBy David […]