Q & A Archive

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss Turkey’s interests and agenda in the Syrian civil war. For the Report, Ciara Long talks with Peter Dörrie about the impact of austerity on higher education and social mobility in Brazil. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: Russia and Turkey Move Closer, but Can Erdogan Survive Putin’s Embrace? In Colombia, the Long Journey to Implementing Peace With the FARC Begins Does Any Party in South Sudan Have the Will to Prevent Genocide? Brazil’s Cuts to Higher Education Dash Hopes for […]

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak visited China last month, where he signed a series of deals, including a significant defense agreement, raising concerns that Malaysia could be “separating” from its partnership with the United States. In an email interview, Yang Razali Kassim, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, discusses Malaysia’s ties with China. WPR: What is the nature and extent of economic and military ties between Malaysia and China, how have ties evolved in recent years, and what impact has the South China Sea disputes had on them? Yang Razali Kassim: Economic ties […]

Bill English was chosen on Dec. 12 to be New Zealand’s new prime minister after John Key, who had led the National Party to three election victories since 2008, surprised the country by stepping down. In an email interview, Jon Johansson, a senior lecturer at Victoria University, discusses New Zealand politics. WPR: What have been John Key’s major domestic and foreign policy accomplishments, and where has his record been less successful? Jon Johansson: Key’s major domestic legacy achievements include his crisis leadership following the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011; his government’s progress in advancing historical Treaty of Waitangi claims […]

A bomb ripped through a church in central Cairo last week, killing at least 26 people in the most brutal and brazen attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christian community in years. The self-declared Islamic State, which has been waging an insurgency against the government in the Sinai Peninsula since 2014, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. It vowed to escalate what it called a “war on polytheism,” a sign that it seeks to stoke more sectarian violence in Egypt and target the country’s beleaguered Coptic minority. The attack […]

Representatives from South Korea, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama concluded negotiations for a free trade deal last month, with the final agreement expected to be signed next June. In an email interview, Won-Ho Kim, director of the Latin American studies program and of the Center for International Cooperation and Strategy at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, discusses South Korea’s trade relations with Central America. WPR: How extensive is trade between South Korea and Central America, and what are the expected effects of the recently signed free trade […]

In late November, Greece announced that it was pulling out of plans to sell a 66 percent stake in the Greek national gas operator Desfa to Azerbaijan’s state energy company, SOCAR, complicating Greek efforts to meet its privatization targets set out by the terms of its bailout agreement. In an email interview, John N. Kallianiotis, a professor at the University of Scranton, discusses Greece’s privatization program. WPR: What are Greece’s privatization obligations under its bailout agreement, and how much progress has been made on the privatization program? John N. Kallianiotis: The administrator of the Greek privatization plan is the Hellenic […]

A new, expanded mandate for the Japanese military, known as the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), participating in the United Nations mission in South Sudan went into force Monday. Japanese soldiers are now allowed to rescue humanitarian workers under attack and play a larger role in protecting U.N. camps. In an email interview, Ippeita Nishida, a research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, discusses the Japanese military’s overseas activities. WPR: What U.N. and multilateral security missions is Japan participating in, and what is public opinion toward participating in them? Ippeita Nishida: Japan has a 350-strong SDF engineering unit and some staff officers […]

Editor’s note: This article is the first in an ongoing WPR series on income inequality and poverty reduction in various countries across the globe. Though Sweden has one of the lowest rates of income inequality in the world, it is experiencing a wave of anti-establishment nationalism similar to what has struck much of Europe and the United States, fueled in large part by a backlash against immigration. In an email interview, Daniel Waldenström, a visiting professor at the Paris School of Economics, discusses income inequality in Sweden. WPR: What is the rate of income inequality in Sweden, what are the […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. Last week dozens of indigenous people blocked the entrance to the presidential palace in Brasilia to demand that Brazilian President Michel Temer’s administration respect their rights. In an email interview Ana Carolina Alfinito Vieira, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, and Luiz Henrique Eloy, a lawyer with the Terena Indigenous Council, discuss indigenous rights in Brazil. WPR: What is the legal status of Brazil’s indigenous peoples, and […]

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 globe. Guatemala banned child marriage last year, but the practice continues. With an extended drought exacerbating poverty across much of the country, many poor families see daughters as a financial burden and marry them to pay off debts. In an email interview, Serena Cosgrove, an assistant professor at Seattle University, discusses women’s rights in Guatemala. WPR: What is the current status of women’s rights and gender equality in Guatemala? Serena Cosgrove: Women in Guatemala have […]

On Nov. 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes would be withdrawn from circulation, a move designed to tackle corruption that instead has created chaos and disproportionately affected India’s poor, who depend on the informal economy. In an email interview, Jan Breman, an emeritus professor at the University of Amsterdam, discusses India’s informal economy. WPR: How large is India’s informal economy, how many people participate in it, and how much tax revenue does the government lose from it? Jan Breman: The informal economy in India “employs” close to half a billion men, women and children, […]

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 globe. Last month, the African Union praised Rwanda for its inclusion of women in government—women make up 64 percent of the lower house of parliament—and encouraged other African countries to follow Rwanda’s lead on gender equality. In an email interview, Pamela Abbott, a professor at the University of Aberdeen, discusses women’s rights in Rwanda. WPR: What is the status of women’s rights and gender equality in Rwanda? Pamela Abbott: Girls are as likely to attend […]