A view of a courtroom inside Rome's tribunal during the first hearing of a corruption trial involving politicians and businessmen, Nov. 5, 2015 (AP photo Alessandro Di Meo).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. The trial for 46 people accused of running a Mafia crime ring in Rome that had infiltrated city hall began earlier this month. In an email interview, Daniel Gros, the director of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, discussed Italy’s fight against corruption. WPR: How big a problem is corruption in Italy, and in what areas—including which levels of government—is its impact most felt? Daniel Gros: Outright corruption is mainly a problem at the subnational […]

Then-Moldovan Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet speaks at the U.N. General Assembly, New York, Sept. 30, 2015 (U.N. photo by Amanda Voisard).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. Last month, the Moldovan Parliament voted to dismiss the government of Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet. The move came weeks after former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, who was also a former leader of the ruling coalition member Liberal Democratic Party, was arrested as part of an investigation into $1 billion that went missing from the country’s banking system.* In an email interview, Balázs Jarábik, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discussed Moldova’s fight against […]

A protester at a rally in support of migrants, Lausanne, Switzerland, Sept. 15, 2015 (photo by Flickr user degust licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license).

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. The Swiss government announced last week that there is not sufficient reason to implement border checks to prevent attacks by Islamic extremists, following the Paris attacks. In an email interview, Céline Bauloz, a senior fellow at the Graduate Institute, Geneva’s Global Migration Centre, discussed Switzerland’s refugee policy and response to the ongoing refugee crisis. WPR: How big an impact has recent immigration had on Switzerland, and how has the country been affected by the current […]

View of the Singapore skyline, April 18, 2013 (Flickr photo by user henryleong, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the potential impact on members’ economies. Since the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the biggest multilateral trade deal in recent years, was agreed to last month, the response to the pact in Singapore has been muted. In an email interview, Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, discussed the TPP and its expected impact on Singapore’s economy. WPR: What economic benefits is Singapore expected to see from its participation in the TPP? Deborah Elms: Because Singapore’s economy is already quite open and the government […]

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron hosts the first Community Engagement Forum, London, Oct. 1 3, 2015 (photo from the office of the U.K. Prime Minister).

Last month, the U.K. announced new measures designed to prevent the radicalization of Muslim youth in Britain, a move that has taken on new meaning in the wake of Friday’s attacks in Paris. In an email interview, Christopher Baker-Beall, a senior lecturer in international relations at Nottingham Trent University and co-editor of “Counter-Radicalisation: Critical Perspectives,” discussed the U.K.’s counterterrorism and counter-extremism policies. WPR: How has the U.K.’s counterterrorism policy evolved since it was first introduced, and what explains the new emphasis on counter-radicalization to this policy? Christopher Baker-Beall: Since the terrorist attacks in London in July 2005, the U.K. government […]

French soldiers patrol the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, Nov. 16, 2015 (AP photo by Peter Dejong).

PARIS—The multiple coordinated attacks that struck Paris on Friday mark a new operational phase of France’s war, as part of the U.S.-led coalition, against the self-declared Islamic State. Nevertheless, the same local and geopolitical obstacles to a broader consensus on the conflict in Syria continue to hamper efforts to craft a new strategic approach for eradicating the group there. As a consequence, France and its European partners must brace their populations against the likelihood of similar attacks in the future, even as they adopt a more pro-active and transnational approach to preventing them. The major differences between Friday’s attacks and […]

A woman carrying flowers in front of the Carillon cafe and Petit Cambodge restaurant, Paris, France, Nov. 14, 2015 (AP photo by Jerome Delay).

Killing sprees at six locations in Paris on Friday left at least 129 people dead and many more injured, with the city reeling after its second terrorist attack of 2015. The self-proclaimed Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the massacre, which it declared was in retaliation for the French air-strike campaign against the group in Syria. President Francois Hollande vowed to be “unforgiving with the barbarians” of the group, and French jets bombed the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa. The United States also upped its military campaign in Syria, attacking hundreds of trucks used to smuggle crude oil, […]

Egyptian soldiers guard the entrance to the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Egypt, Nov. 6, 2015 (AP photo by Thomas Hartwell).

How much worse can things get in Egypt? The fallout from the likely bombing of a Russian passenger jet, which exploded above the Sinai Peninsula late last month, has crippled Egypt’s long-suffering tourism industry, with Russia banning all flights to Egypt for the next several months—peak tourism season for Russians. The U.K. and Ireland have suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort in the southern Sinai from where the Russian plane took off. Its airport, which had once been praised for its security upgrades after a series of deadly bombings across the seaside town in 2005, is now […]

African Union forces during the Amani Africa II exercise, Nov. 8, 2015 (Photo from the South African Government Communication and Information System).

Last month, 5,400 troops from across Africa participated in a military exercise in South Africa, the last joint exercise before the African Standby Force becomes fully operational. In an email interview, Gilbert Khadiagala, a professor of international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, discussed the state of multilateral security cooperation in Africa. WPR: What are the planned objectives for African multinational security cooperation, in terms of institutional architecture and force structures, and where do those plans currently stand in terms of implementation? Gilbert Khadiagala: The African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Architecture includes the creation of […]

Students walk past inmates as they tour a prison as part of a crime prevention program, San Salvador, El Salvador, Feb. 8, 2012 (AP photo by Luis Romero).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. Corruption wracks Latin America, but some governments across the region have taken measures to improve transparency and accountability. In an email interview, Geoff Thale, program director at the Washington Office on Latin America, discusses El Salvador’s approach to combating corruption and organized crime and the challenges that remain. WPR: How big of a problem is corruption in El Salvador, and in what areas is its impact felt most strongly? Geoff Thale: Like Honduras and Guatemala, El Salvador […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, talks with Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China, March 30, 2015 (AP photo by Feng Li).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of falling oil and commodities prices on resource-exporting countries. Zambia’s economy, which relies heavily on copper and its derivate products, is coming under strain as commodity prices drop and foreign investments wane. Worse, China’s economic slowdown has also weakened Zambia’s growth, as the two countries are close trading partners. In an email interview, Irmgard Erasmus, a fixed-income economist at NKC African Economics, discussed the risks for its economy. WPR: How important are commodities for the Zambian economy, and what effect have falling commodity prices had on […]

Demonstrators chant in support of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 9, 2015 (AP photo by Khalid Mohammed).

On Monday, following through on a threat issued last week, Iraq’s parliament voted unanimously to block Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi from passing anti-corruption measures and other pledged reforms without its approval. The move is just the latest sign of Abadi’s tug-of-war with Iraqi lawmakers. In August, in response to growing protests over graft and dysfunctional utility services, Abadi announced a series of reforms to deal with corruption and mismanagement. Most prominent among them were plans to eliminate several senior political offices that had become patronage vehicles, including Iraq’s three vice presidents and two deputy prime ministers, and to cut back […]

A view of the migrant camp known as the new Jungle, Calais, France, Oct. 21, 2015 (AP photo by Michel Spingler).

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. French President Francois Hollande held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday on the refugee crisis, with a French official reporting that the two leaders agreed on policy objectives. However, France’s response to the refugee crisis has been far more subdued than Germany’s. In an email interview, Didier Fassin, professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, discussed […]