Q & A Archive

At the end of September, Turkey opened a military base in Somalia, its largest overseas base, just weeks before the deadliest terrorist attack in the nation’s history claimed the lives of hundreds of Somalis. Amid Somalia’s chronic instability, Turkey is quickly becoming the country’s most important external partner, while Somalia has become the launchpad for Turkish ambitions in East Africa. In an email interview, Michael Woldemariam, an assistant professor of international relations and political science at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, explains the basis for deepening Turkish-Somali ties and what they reveal about the Turkish government’s wider aims […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about press freedom and safety in various countries around the world. In 2017, Jamaica was ranked eighth in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, sandwiched between the likes of Switzerland and Belgium, and well ahead of the United States, which was ranked 43rd. But Jamaica’s media landscape was not always so free, and the island has made major strides in recent years. In an email interview, Margaux Ewen, advocacy and communications director at Reporters Without Borders North America, explains what is behind the progress for press freedom in Jamaica […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on LGBT rights and discrimination in various countries around the world. Since a September concert in Cairo during which a few concertgoers waved rainbow pride flags, the Egyptian government has initiated a severe crackdown on the country’s LGBT community. Dozens have been arrested, while much of the Egyptian media and conservative religious figures have stoked widespread homophobia. In an email interview, Neela Ghoshal, a senior researcher on LGBT rights at Human Rights Watch, discusses the unprecedented scale of the crackdown, how the government justifies it, and how responsive Egypt is […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about workers’ rights in various countries around the world. With an aging population and an extremely low birthrate, Japan is facing its most acute labor shortage in more than 40 years. But it has also come to rely increasingly on a “nonregular” labor force, such as part-time and temporary workers from staffing agencies, who are easier to hire and fire and paid less. This has meant poorer working conditions for most Japanese workers, including for full-time employees who are working longer hours. In an email interview, Hiro Watanabe, a […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Associate Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. An election that was meant to showcase the strength of Liberia’s postwar democratic transition has instead been mired in uncertainty, with fraud allegations exposing deep rifts among the country’s political class. George Weah, a former soccer star who came close to winning the presidency in 2005, led the first round of voting held Oct. 10 with 38 percent of the total. He was scheduled to compete in a runoff next Tuesday against Vice President Joseph Boakai, who received 28 […]

On Monday, Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, accepted the resignation of the country’s entire Cabinet, dissolving it amid political infighting but with no official explanation. The move reflects Kuwait’s contentious political system, which has jeopardized the country’s recent efforts to stave off a financial crisis through needed economic reforms. In an email interview, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute and an associate fellow at Chatham House in London, explains what was behind the Cabinet’s resignation and what it means for Kuwait’s political and economic future. WPR: What led Kuwait’s emir to dissolve the […]

After nearly a month of uncertainty following New Zealand’s inconclusive Sept. 23 parliamentary elections, a coalition government was finally formed on Oct. 19 between the Labour party, the Greens and the nationalist New Zealand First party. Though Labour’s recently installed leader Jacinda Ardern will become prime minister, New Zealand First’s “kingmaker” role has led many observers to wonder if the government’s policies will reflect a more populist platform. In an email interview, Stephen Levine, professor of political science and international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, discusses the results of the elections and what the new coalition means for New […]

The human rights lawyers went to Tanzania to combat an anti-gay crackdown, and instead got caught up in it themselves. Last month, Sibongile Ndashe, executive director of the South Africa-based Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, or ISLA, traveled with two colleagues to a meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city. They had been invited by Community Health and Education Services Advocacy, a Tanzanian organization that advocates on behalf of sex workers, to explore legal responses to a ban on drop-in centers offering HIV/AIDS services—a move seen as part of a broader government assault on the rights of […]

Last week, Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, made several high-profile personnel changes in the state’s intelligence service and security sector. The reshuffle followed a strong endorsement of Nyusi’s leadership at the latest congress of the ruling Frelimo party, as well as a wave of violent attacks on police and politicians. In August, Nyusi met face-to-face with Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the Renamo opposition party, for the first time since 2015. Frelimo and Renamo fought against each other in a civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people from 1976 to 1992, and a flare-up in violence since 2013 has sparked […]