Pakistan soldiers patrol in Gwadar port, Gwadar, Pakistan, April 11, 2016 (AP photo by Anjum Naveed).

Editor’s note: This article is the first in an ongoing WPR series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, sometimes described as the “flagship project” of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, is proof that geo-economics is operating alongside geopolitics to push Beijing and Islamabad closer together. In an email interview, Arif Rafiq, president of Vizier Consulting and a fellow at the Center for Global Policy, explains how CPEC’s energy and infrastructure projects can benefit both countries and discusses hurdles […]

Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, waves to the crowd before speaking at a ceremony, Kinigi, Rwanda, Sept. 5, 2015 (AP photo by Ben Curtis).

On Monday, a court in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, ordered the release of a Rwandan-British woman accused of forming an armed group and plotting against the state. Violette Umawahoro, whose husband is an activist in the opposition Rwandan National Congress, was held incommunicado for more than two weeks after her arrest in mid-February. Her friends and family maintain she has no personal involvement in politics, and the court, in letting her out on bail, said prosecutors had presented no evidence to back up their claims. Umawahoro’s release could be viewed as a positive example of the judiciary placing an important check […]

Carrie Lam poses after being named Hong Kong’s new chief executive, Hong Kong, March 26, 2017 (Imaginechina via AP Images).

On Sunday, Carrie Lam, the candidate preferred by Beijing, was chosen as Hong Kong’s next chief executive, a development that was widely seen as a setback for those worried about the preservation of Hong Kong’s autonomy. The following day, nine pro-democracy activists involved in protests in 2014 turned themselves into police, who announced they would be charged with causing a “public nuisance.” In an email interview, Michael C. Davis, a senior fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s Center for Comparative and Public Law, discusses what Lam’s election means for Hong Kong’s relationship with Beijing as well as possible next […]

Relatives and villagers gather around the coffin of Balkisun Mandal Khatwe, who died while working as a migrant in Qatar, Saptari, Nepal, Nov. 23, 2016 (AP photo by Niranjan Shrestha).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about workers’ rights in various countries around the world. For several years, Qatar has come under fire for the pervasive exploitation of migrant workers, including much-maligned systems that prevent them from leaving even after they’ve been abused. Late last year, the country adopted changes to labor regulations, though rights groups contend the country has left some of the worst aspects of the old system in place. In an email interview, Vani Saraswathi, associate editor of the online advocacy platform Migrant-Rights.org and an adviser to grassroots advocacy projects in Qatar, […]

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi during a press conference, Cairo, March 2, 2017 (AP photo by Nariman El-Mofty).

Egypt’s president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, is coming to Washington next week, and he can expect a warm welcome. After all, President Donald Trump praised him during last year’s election campaign as a “fantastic guy.” Following a meeting with el-Sisi in New York during the United Nations General Assembly in September, then-candidate Trump promised that under his administration, the United States “will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead.” Unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel, el-Sisi—who has thrown tens of thousands of dissidents into Egypt’s jails—will almost certainly get a handshake […]

Jean Michel Berhokoirigoin, a Basque activist, speaks during a press conference ahead of the ETA's disarmament, Bayonne, France, March 23, 2017 (AP photo by Bob Edme).

More than five years after declaring a cease-fire, the Basque separatist group ETA has announced plans to fully disarm by April 8. Founded in 1959, the group, whose name stands for “Basque Country and Freedom” in the Basque language, sought to create a homeland in the Basque region in northern Spain and southwestern France. Its campaign of violence, including bombings and assassinations, is blamed for more than 800 deaths. In an email interview, Rafael Leonisio, political scientist and editor of the 2016 book ETA’s Terrorist Campaign: From Violence to Politics, 1968-2015 (Extremism and Democracy), discusses the challenges facing the group […]

Gabon's president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, ahead of his country's opening match at the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, Libreville, Gabon, Jan. 13, 2017 (AP photo by Sunday Alamba).

When he was sworn in for a second seven-year term last September, Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, renewed a call for all political actors “to sit together and find solutions” after an election season marred by protests, violence and mass arrests. Six months later, the oil-producing Central African nation is still waiting for that dialogue to happen, and there has been little sign of progress. Earlier this month, Bongo proposed a round of talks that would begin March 28. Almost immediately, Jean Ping, the president’s main rival in last year’s vote, said he would not participate, dismissing the idea as […]

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Brussels, Belgium, March 21, 2017 (AP photo).

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with European Union leaders in Brussels this week, vowing to secure a free trade deal with the bloc as soon as possible. Negotiations over the deal began in 2013 and have run into a number of roadblocks. In an email interview, J. Berkshire Miller, a Tokyo-based international affairs fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the challenges that remain to clinching the deal as well as what the two sides stand to gain. WPR: What is the current state of economic and political ties between Japan and EU countries, how have they been […]

Students protest after nearly 25,000 applicants failed Liberia's university entrance exam, Monrovia, Aug. 28, 2013 (AP photo by Mark Darrough).

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about education policy in various countries around the world. Liberia’s plan to task independent operators with running some of its public schools has received extensive media attention over the past year. Not long after the plan was first unveiled, one outlet said it was an attempt to outsource the entire education sector, and a U.N. rapporteur accused Liberia of violating students’ right to education. In an email interview, Justin Sandefur, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development who is helping to coordinate the randomized evaluation of the […]

Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting, St. Petersburg, Russia, Dec. 26, 2016 (AP photo by Dmitri Lovetsky).

Kazakhstan’s parliament has approved reforms that would decentralize power in the Central Asian nation, potentially giving parliament and the Cabinet more control over key duties such as managing the economy. In an email interview, Marlene Laruelle, director of the Central Asia program at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, discusses what the reforms could mean for President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled since the fall of the Soviet Union. World Politics Review: What might the decision to devolve some presidential powers mean for Nazarbayev’s political future?Marlene Laruelle: Nazarbayev has announced political reforms at various points in […]

Morocco's current and former prime ministers, Saadeddine Othmani and Abdelilah Benkirane, applaud during a campaign meeting, Rabat, Morocco, September 25, 2016 (AP photo Abdeljalil Bounhar).

Earlier this month, Mohamed Daadaoui wrote in WPR that Morocco’s political impasse suggested the monarchy was growing frustrated with the experiment—undertaken after the 2011 Arab uprisings—that allowed the country’s leading Islamist party to assume nominal governmental power. Last week, that signal became clearer with King Mohammed VI’s decision to oust the party’s leader, Abdelilah Benkirane, from his post as prime minister. On Friday, Mohammed VI tapped former Foreign Minister Saadeddine Othmani—another top figure in the party, known as the Justice and Development Party, or PJD—to form a new government. The PJD endorsed the appointment over the weekend. Mohammed VI’s removal […]

Moroccan King Mohammed VI and President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire at a climate summit in  Marrakech, Morocco, Nov. 16, 2016 (Sipa via AP Images).

After more than three decades away, Morocco successfully accomplished its mission of rejoining the African Union during the body’s summit meeting in January. “I’m finally returning home… I’ve missed you all,” King Mohammed VI said to applause after his country’s readmission was confirmed. Instead of savoring the moment, however, the North African nation quickly moved on to its next diplomatic initiative: an application, confirmed last week, to join the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. The bid is reportedly due to be considered in July. The move has been widely, and correctly, viewed as a continuation of the […]

Ruoholahti Comprehensive School, Helsinki, Finland (photo by Jori Samonen via flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0).

Editor’s note: This article is the first in an ongoing WPR series about education policy in various countries around the world. Last year, schools across Finland began implementing the country’s new National Curriculum Framework, which was first approved in 2014. Though the country, long praised for its school system, has seen test scores decline in recent years, the reforms show the Finnish government is more focused on other problems. In an email interview, Finnish educator, author and policy adviser Pasi Sahlberg explains what the changes are intended to achieve. WPR: What are the biggest changes resulting from the adoption last […]

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is congratulated by supporters after winning another term in office, Khartoum, Sudan, April 26, 2010 (AP photo by Abd Raouf).

On March 1, Bakri Hassan Saleh was named prime minister of Sudan, the country’s first since 1989. The move immediately ignited talk of potential scenarios for a leadership transition in a country ruled by the same man since that same year. In an email interview, David Shinn, adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, discusses the appointment’s political implications. WPR: What does the selection of a prime minister suggest for President Omar al-Bashir’s future? David Shinn: The selection of Bakri Hassan Saleh […]

A metro police officer fires rubber bullets at anti-immigrant protesters, Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 24, 2017 (AP photo by Themba Hadebe).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on income inequality and poverty reduction in various countries around the world. Last month, a fresh wave of protests in South Africa against migrants—who are often accused of “stealing jobs”—again brought attention to the country’s high unemployment rate and sluggish economy. Meanwhile, the government is considering a hike in the minimum wage, the effects of which are being fiercely contested by economists and politicians. In an email interview, Johannesburg-based consultant David Ansara discusses how the country’s legacy of inequality is shaping the ongoing debate. WPR: What are the roots […]

Malian troops join with former rebels during a joint patrol, Gao, Mali, Feb. 23, 2017 (AP photo by Baba Ahmed).

The arrival of interim authorities in northern Mali combined with the launch of joint security patrols involving soldiers and former rebels underline the government’s determination to make significant headway this year toward implementing a stagnating 2015 peace accord with separatist insurgents in the region. But both efforts have run into trouble, and the recently announced alliance of three jihadi groups is a reminder that the threat of disruptive extremist violence isn’t going away. Beginning in late February, interim authorities have been sent to the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Menaka. Their arrival marks an attempt by the government, based […]

A policeman fires tear gas during a clash with drug offenders, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 23, 2017 (AP photo by Andre Penner).

Last month, police in Brazil’s southeastern state of Espirito Santo went on strike over pay and working conditions, creating a security vacuum that allowed for widespread violence and looting. The police reported 143 killings over a 10-day period, and the government deployed federal troops to stave off further violence in advance of Carnival celebrations at the end of February. In an email interview, Dennis Pauschinger, a sociologist and expert on Brazil’s security sector based at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland, discusses how the crisis speaks to larger problems plaguing Brazil’s security sector. WPR: What are some of the factors […]

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