A woman carries an umbrella with pictures of masked members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot during an opposition rally, Moscow, Oct. 27, 2013 (AP photo by Ivan Sekretarev).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the world. Russia recently passed a law to reduce the punishment for domestic violence to a fine and a short jail sentence. Though ostensibly an effort to prevent the separation of families over false charges of abuse, the move has been attacked by critics who argue it will lead to impunity for abusers. In an email interview, Ira Kosterina, program coordinator for gender at the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s Russia office, discusses women’s rights and gender equality […]

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a news conference, Feb. 1, 2017, New York (AP photo by Mary Altaffer).

All bureaucracies need heroes. The employees of most large organizations spend their days taking notes and bickering over their vacation dates. They require a few exemplary individuals, past or present, to inspire them. Bankers laud the financial wizards who landed big deals. Lawyers lionize the legal eagles who won famous cases. The United Nations is no different. U.N. officials tend to be smart, highly educated and distinctly frustrated by the organization’s struggle to stay relevant on the world stage. Anyone who has encountered this admirably cosmopolitan tribe of officials knows that they are also collectively obsessed by their right to […]

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley speaks to reporters after a Security Council meeting, New York, Feb. 16, 2017 (AP photo by Mary Altaffer).

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss European alarm over Donald Trump’s criticisms of NATO. For the Report, Sarah Hearn talks with Peter Dörrie about the prospects for global development in an era of populist retrenchment in the West. If you’d like to support our free podcast through patron pledges, Patreon is an online service that will allow you to do so. To find out about the benefits you can get through pledging as little as $1 per month, click through to WPR’s Trend Lines Patreon page. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes […]

Demontrators hold a placard reading "Cop rapist go to jail" during a protest against alleged police abuse, Paris, Feb. 18, 2017 (AP photo by Francois Mori).

Earlier this month, protests broke out in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a northern suburb of Paris, after police allegedly raped a 22-year-old black man, known only as “Theo L.,” with a baton during an I.D. check. One police officer was charged with rape, and two with assault. Despite a visit by French President Francois Hollande to Theo’s hospital bedside in an effort to calm the situation, rallies and riots, some violent, spread across the suburbs of Paris where immigrant and immigrant-origin communities are concentrated. The protests soon made their way to central Paris, drawing thousands to Place de la Republique by the end […]

A protest by Spain's main unions demanding more jobs and better salaries and working conditions, Madrid, Feb. 19, 2017 (AP photo by Francisco Seco).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about workers’ rights in various countries around the world. Dockworkers in Spain announced a series of strikes yesterday to protest a government plan to allow ports to hire nonunion workers. The strikes are set to begin March 6, although talks continue between the government and the unions. In an email interview, Alexandre de le Court, a visiting professor at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona and member of the UPF Research Group in Labor Law and Social Security Law (greDTiSS), discusses labor rights in Spain. WPR: How robust are […]

Men look for a place to sleep in a crowded shelter for migrants deported from the United States, Nogales, Mexico. April 28, 2010 (AP photo by Gregory Bull).

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss the battle between President Donald Trump’s White House and the U.S. intelligence community. For the Report, Laura Weiss talks with Peter Dörrie about how shifting patterns of Central American migration are putting Mexico’s asylum system under pressure. If you’d like to support our free podcast through patron pledges, Patreon is an online service that will allow you to do so. To find out about the benefits you can get through pledging as little as $1 per month, click through to WPR’s Trend Lines Patreon […]

Central American migrants attend a Mass at the Basilica de Guadalupe, Mexico City, April 18, 2015 (AP photo by Marco Ugarte).

TAPACHULA, Mexico—David Gramajo was working as a bricklayer in Atlanta in 2012 when he was stopped by police for driving without a license, turned over to immigration authorities, and deported to his native Guatemala. But once he returned to Guatemala City, he and his wife Alejandra struggled to maintain their business and protect their three children. They received constant threats from gang members who extorted and threatened their family for the little money they had. Eventually, they were forced to leave behind their business and again head north, but this time with a different aim: Mexico. I met David and […]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, left, review an honor guard, Hanoi, Vietnam, Dec. 20, 2016 (AP photo by Tran Van Minh).

For over three decades, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has ruled his country without any sign of ever wanting to give up power, despite growing indications that Cambodians want him to. As the country prepares for elections, he has begun his most ruthless campaign yet to consolidate his position as a strongman and undermine his opponents to ensure his own political survival. The resignation of the country’s longtime opposition leader is just the latest indication of the heavy price that Hun Sen is exacting on Cambodia’s domestic politics and foreign policy. Since coming to power in 1985 with Vietnamese support […]

A woman helps a child wear a mask to protect against air pollution, Beijing, China, Nov. 26, 2016 (AP photo by Ng Han Guan).

Though the government has demonstrated interest in improving women's rights in China, economic and security issues far outweigh gender concerns. Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the world. [marketing]blockbuster[/marketing] China passed its first law against domestic violence in 2015, but a key part of the legislation—issuing restraining orders against abusers—has not been properly implemented, putting women at risk. In an email interview, Andrea den Boer, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, discusses women’s rights in China. WPR: What is the […]

Former President Barack Obama departs the East Front of the U.S. Capitol after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Washington, Jan. 20, 2017 (AP photo by Alex Brandon).

When Barack Obama became president of the United States in 2009, few would have guessed that he would be followed by an administration touting nationalism and protectionism. Yet eight years later, with Donald Trump as president, the United States appears to be abandoning Obama’s vision of America as a global partner and the leader of the liberal international order. What happened? World Politics Review has compiled 24 articles that trace Obama’s foreign policy legacy and what it means for the Trump era. The following 24 articles are free to nonsubscribers until Feb. 16. Where It All Began Sworn in during […]