Indian Muslim activists shout slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a protest against the killing of a Muslim farmer in New Delhi, India, Oct. 6, 2015 (AP photo by Manish Swarup).

On Sept. 28, in the village of Dadri in the state of Uttar Pradesh, barely 50 miles from India’s capital of New Delhi, a Hindu mob beat a Muslim laborer, Mohammed Akhlaq, to death. The mob had attacked Akhlaq at home in the belief that he had slaughtered a cow to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid. The horrific absurdity of the crime was further accentuated when subsequent forensic examination of the meat taken from Akhlaq’s refrigerator demonstrated that it was actually mutton. The killing generated understandable anger and profound dismay within India’s vast civil society. However, it took a […]

University of the Witwatersrand students march during a protest, Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 21, 2015 (AP photo by Themba Hadebe).

Students have been rallying at South Africa’s universities since Oct. 13 to oppose a planned 11.5 percent tuition hike, with public investment in education declining across the country. Protests came to a head Wednesday, when students in Cape Town marched on Parliament and clashed with police officers wielding stun grenades and tear gas, leading to numerous injuries and arrests. Protests have spread across the country, and classes have been suspended at 15 universities. The wave of protests comes amid a season of discontent among South Africa’s university students, primarily from the University of Cape Town—one of the most prominent academic […]

German federal police officers guide a group of migrants after crossing the border between Austria and Germany in Wegscheid, Germany, Oct. 15, 2015 (AP photo by Matthias Schrader).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become Europe’s moral voice during the refugee crisis that has seen over 710,000 people fleeing war, violence and poverty arrive at the European Union’s borders so far this year. In a press conference in late August, Merkel said, “If Europe fails on the question of refugees, if this close link with universal civil rights is broken, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for.” In a speech last month to the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, Merkel re-emphasized her moral view of the worst refugee crisis since World War II—and Germany’s ability to meet its challenges. […]

An elderly man sits under a mural depicting a Saudi-led airstrike hitting Sanaa with Arabic writing that reads, "using internationally banned bombs," in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen, Sept. 19, 2015 (AP photo by Hani Mohammed).

The war in Yemen has pushed the country to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations’ World Food Program, while Yemenis are dying daily because of a lack of access to clean water supplies, basic medicine and even affordable transport to medical facilities. Yet despite a mounting international outcry, the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is unlikely to have much of an impact on the calculus of the main players in the conflict, or their foreign backers. In truth, a solution to Yemen’s humanitarian crisis will only come once the warring parties believe a political solution works in their […]

Thousands of people attend a "Refugee Welcome" demonstration at the Gotaplatsen square, Gothenburg, Sweden, Sept. 9, 2015 (AP photo by Adam Ihse).

Sweden, the biggest country at the heart of rich and peaceful Scandinavia, is in many ways in the eye of the current migration storm tearing through Europe. Although it is admitting fewer refugees than Germany in terms of sheer numbers, Sweden is—and has been for several years—the European Union’s biggest per capita recipient of refugees by quite a wide margin. In 2014, Sweden, a country with just 9 million inhabitants, received more than 80,000 asylum applications. This year, that number is set to grow substantially. From one angle, no other country seems better equipped to handle this challenge. Having weathered […]

The head of the Tunisian Bar Association and one of the four winners of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, Mohamed Fadhel Mafoudh, at his office, Tunis, Tunisia, Oct. 12, 2015 (AP photo by Hassene Dridi).

Tunisia has received more media coverage than usual this week, after the National Dialogue Quartet was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.” The award confounded observers; bets were on Germany’s Angela Merkel or Pope Francis. That’s because, with the exception of Tunisia’s closest followers, few had actually heard of the Quartet—which comprised a labor union, an employers’ organization,* a human rights group and a lawyers’ association—or understood its role in advancing Tunisia’s democratic transition. The Quartet, which was spearheaded […]

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta gestures during a special parliament session, Bucharest, Romania, Sept. 29, 2015, before facing a no-confidence vote (AP photo by Octav Ganea).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. Barely noticed by a world preoccupied with crises ranging from migrants and refugees in Europe and fighting in Ukraine, to civil war in Syria and stock-market plunges in China, Romania put its prime minister on trial for corruption on Sept. 21. Victor Ponta, who stubbornly remains in office and denies all charges, stands accused of a range of activities largely committed before his tenure as premier, when he was working as a lawyer. That the sitting head […]

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena addresses the media in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 2, 2015 (AP photo by Eranga Jayawardena).

It has been a bad year for former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his nationalist support base, which comes predominantly from the country’s majority Sinhalese ethnic group. Rajapaksa’s rout in January’s presidential election, followed by his August defeat in parliamentary elections, can be seen as nothing short of a mandate from the Sri Lankan people to distance themselves from his authoritarian tendencies and divisive policies and move toward political reform and reconciliation. Rajapaksa managed to secure a parliamentary seat in Kurunegala district, a stronghold of the United People’s Freedom Alliance in the Sinhalese heartland. But his dissident faction of […]

Eurocopter executive Olivier Lambert and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, after signing an agreement, with French President Francois Hollande and Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Paris, June 24, 2015 (AP photo by Remy de la Mauviniere).

France’s increasingly close rapport with Saudi Arabia under President Francois Hollande has incensed some of his critics, who label him a hypocrite for touting a human rights agenda while maintaining cozy ties with the oil-rich Gulf nation notorious for public executions and beatings. Just recently, Riyadh stoked international outrage over news that 20-year-old Ali al-Nimr, arrested four years ago during anti-government protests—along with hundreds of other, mostly Shiite protesters in the city of Qatif—would be sentenced to death. Although France has not been particularly outspoken on Saudi Arabia’s frequent executions—175 in 12 months, according to an Amnesty International report from […]

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz arrives for an emergency EU heads of state summit on migration at the EU Council building, Brussels, Sept. 23, 2015 (AP photo by Francois Walschaerts).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the European refugee crisis and European Union member states’ approaches to addressing it. Last month, Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said that “accepting migrants escaping to save their lives is our duty.” In an email interview, Piotr Kazmierkiewicz, an expert at the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, discussed Poland’s migrant and refugee policy. WPR: How has Poland’s stance toward the European Union’s refugee relocation quota scheme changed over the past year? Piotr Kazmierkiewicz: Poland traditionally objected to any measures interfering with its sovereign decisions on border and […]

French President Francois Hollande at a news conference following his address to the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, New York, Sept. 28, 2015 (AP photo by Jason DeCrow).

This week saw big news for foreign military engagement in the Syrian civil war: On Sunday, France launched its first round of air strikes against Islamic State targets, after years of reticence toward any military involvement in Syria. And on Wednesday, Russian aircraft dropped bombs against Syrian opposition fighters—after asserting it would target the Islamic State. That same day, France announced the opening of an unprecedented inquiry into crimes against humanity under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. France began an air-strike campaign against Islamic State targets in Iraq last year but refused to engage in Syria, arguing that strikes there could […]