Mourners carry a flag-draped casket during a mass funeral for those killed in a suicide car bombing that targeted members of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, in Isfahan, Iran, Feb. 16, 2019 (AP photo by Ebrahim Noroozi).

Iranian celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution earlier this year were marred by a suicide bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 27 members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The soldiers had been traveling near the Pakistani border in Sistan and Baluchistan province, where armed Sunni insurgents have waged a decades-long campaign to achieve greater autonomy from the Shiite-led government in Tehran. Iran accuses hostile foreign powers like the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan of supporting the insurgency in the predominantly Sunni region. In an email interview with WPR, Patrick Clawson, director of research […]

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, right, shakes hands with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 9, 2019 (AP photo by Vincent Thian).

The prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore met for their annual leaders’ retreat earlier this month, an ongoing tradition that is now in its ninth year. The summit allowed the two neighbors to calm some recent diplomatic disputes tied to long-standing issues over territory and shared water resources. In an interview with WPR, Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, discusses the recent chill, and thaw, in relations between Malaysia and Singapore. World Politics Review: What caused the rift in recent months between Malaysia and Singapore? Ja Ian Chong: The exact reasons […]

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno addresses the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, in Washington, April 17, 2019 (AP photo by Patrick Semansky).

Earlier this month, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno announced that he was stripping Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of the asylum he’d been granted in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012, under former President Rafael Correa. Moreno claimed that Assange had violated the terms of his asylum, but the decision was also part of Moreno’s broader effort to take Ecuador in a different direction after Correa’s autocratic presidency, says Carlos de la Torre, a professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky. In an interview with WPR, he explains how Moreno has reoriented Ecuador’s foreign and domestic policy since taking office in May […]

Maldivian women cast their votes in Male, Maldives, April 6, 2019 (AP photo by Mohamed Sharuhaan).

President Ibrahim Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party scored a historic victory in parliamentary elections in the Maldives earlier this month, winning 65 of 87 seats in the legislature, known as the People’s Majlis. Those results clear the way for Solih’s attempts to account for the debts incurred by his corrupt and autocratic predecessor, Abdulla Yameen, who courted hundreds of millions of dollars in Chinese infrastructure investment during his time as president and is now facing money laundering charges. In an interview with WPR, David Brewster, a senior research fellow at the Australian National University’s National Security College, discusses the significance of […]

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a one-on-one-meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018 (AP photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais).

In this week’s editors’ discussion episode of the Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief Judah Grunstein, managing editor Frederick Deknatel and associate editor Elliot Waldman analyze the impact of the Mueller report and how it will affect Trump’s foreign policy agenda. They also discuss why the United States has been unable to mount an effective response to the “active measures” Russia has taken to interfere with U.S. elections. If you like what you hear on Trend Lines and what you’ve read on WPR, you can sign up for our free newsletter to get our uncompromising analysis delivered straight to your inbox. […]

Armenian soldiers patrol on a tank near the village of Madaghis in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, April 6, 2016 (Photo by Karo Sahakyan for PAN Photo via AP Images).

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan held a summit meeting in Vienna last month, their fourth face-to-face meeting in six months. The two countries’ foreign ministers have also held several rounds of talks, including a meeting this week in Moscow, heightening expectations for progress on resolving the frozen conflict over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. But while there have been some tentative signs of progress, the two sides still differ fundamentally on how they view the conflict over the territory, which broke away from Azerbaijan before the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been under de facto Armenian administration […]

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton during a speech at the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association, Coral Gables, Florida, April 17, 2019 (AP photo by Wilfredo Lee).

The Trump administration yesterday announced a number of new sanctions and restrictions on dealing with Cuba, including new limits on remittances and nonfamily travel to the island from the United States. In a reversal of more than two decades of U.S. policy, the administration also said it would allow Cuban Americans whose property was seized during the Cuban revolution to sue foreign companies operating on that property. A law passed in 1996 had originally allowed such claims, but that provision in the law had been waived by every president, until now. To understand the implications of this move, WPR spoke […]

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at a military promotion ceremony at the Planalto Presidential Palace, Brasilia, Brazil, April 5, 2019 (AP photo by Eraldo Peres).

Lawmakers in Brazil are expected to begin discussions on a draft proposal to reform the country’s pension system next week. The issue represents a key hurdle for President Jair Bolsonaro, who has pledged to rein in budget deficits and restore investor confidence amid persistent signs of weakness in the Brazilian economy. In an interview with WPR, Peter Kingstone, a professor of politics and development at King’s College London, discusses the thorny political issues surrounding pension reform in Brazil. World Politics Review: Why is pension reform seen as so important in Brazil? How dire are the country’s financial straits? Peter Kingstone: […]

Colombian police escort a Venezuelan soldier who defected at the Simon Bolivar international bridge, Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 23, 2019 (AP photo by Fernando Vergara).

It’s been nearly three months since Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, vowing to oust Nicolas Maduro and bring the country’s protracted crisis to an end. But while Guaido successfully managed to muster international support from a host of countries in Latin America and beyond, it appears that hopes for a speedy improvement in conditions for ordinary Venezuelans are bound to go unmet. That’s the case not just for Venezuelans who are still in the country, but also for those who have migrated to neighboring Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America. Officials in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and […]

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard outside a closed market in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 28, 2019 (AP photo by Dar Yasin).

In late February and early March, India and Pakistan engaged in a series of aerial skirmishes after a suicide bombing killed 40 Indian security personnel in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The crisis marked the worst escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries in nearly two decades. In an interview with WPR, Avinash Paliwal, a lecturer and deputy director of the South Asia Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, discusses the longer history of the dispute over Kashmir and what it will take to prevent future crises from escalating. World Politics Review: Recent tensions between India […]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, with his aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, who is a senatorial candidate in next month’s midterm elections, in Manila, Philippines, Oct. 15, 2018 (AP photo by Aaron Favila).

The Philippines is set to hold congressional, provincial and local elections on May 13, midway through President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term. The polls are widely seen as a referendum on the controversial but still-popular Duterte, who has drawn international condemnation for his repressive tactics and his brutal war on drugs. The key battleground in next month’s elections is the 24-seat Senate, where Duterte-backed candidates are poised to win a majority of the 12 seats up for grabs. In an interview with WPR, Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, discusses the outlook for the elections, […]

Comoros’ president, Azali Assoumani, addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, New York, Sept. 27, 2018 (AP photo by Frank Franklin II).

Comoros’ Supreme Court has certified President Azali Assoumani as the winner of last month’s presidential election with 59 percent of the vote, despite protests from the opposition and serious flaws in the voting process. At least three people were killed in a failed uprising at a military base several days after the election, prompting the United States to withdraw its personnel from the islands. Meanwhile, the opposition has been decimated by a campaign of arrests and intimidation, says Simon Massey, a senior lecturer in international relations at Coventry University. In an interview with WPR, he discusses the possibility of further […]

U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, Washington, March 19, 2019 (AP photo by Evan Vucci).

In a sign of the high value he places on forging closer ties with Washington, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro made the United States his first bilateral trip overseas as president last month. At a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, the two liked-minded leaders agreed to deepen cooperation on a wide range of issues, and Trump announced his administration would designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally. In an interview with WPR, Guilherme Casarões, a professor of comparative politics at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, explains the ideological origins of Bolsonaro’s charm offensive and why […]

Greek Cypriots wait at a checkpoint to cross into the Turkish part of Nicosia, April 27, 2003 (Photo by Mustafa Sagiroglu for Anatolia via AP Images).

For 45 years, the island of Cyprus has been divided, politically and physically, between the Turkish-Cypriot north and Greek-Cypriot south. Despite many efforts over the years to resolve it, including some near misses, the conflict has proved intractable. Security guarantees, though perceived differently for both sides, have been among the major sticking points to reuniting the island. But so, too, has restitution of property abandoned by Cypriots who were displaced from both sides of the island during the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus in 1974. That sense of loss has long featured prominently in Cypriots’ experience of the […]

Police acting superintendent Mike McIlraith shows New Zealand lawmakers in Wellington an AR-15 style rifle, on April 2, 2019 (AP photo by Nick Perry).

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on gun policy and the debate over gun control around the world. New Zealand is set to ban certain types of semi-automatic weapons following last month’s mass shooting that killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch. This week, new gun control legislation passed the first of three votes in Parliament. Many commentators have compared the situation to what happened in Australia in 1996, when strict new gun laws were enacted in the wake of a deadly mass shooting that shocked the country. But studies looking at the effectiveness of […]

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 sits at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 23, 2019 (AP photo by Mulugeta Ayene).

Ethiopian Airlines is dealing with its biggest challenge in years following the crash last month of Nairobi-bound Flight 302 soon after takeoff in Addis Ababa. All 157 people onboard were killed. The crash raised serious questions about the safety of the Boeing 737 Max jet, which was involved in another fatal accident last year in Indonesia. For all the focus on the crash in Ethiopia, major African carriers and civil aviation entities have made significant strides in improving their safety records in recent years, says Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, an assistant professor of aviation at the University of North Dakota’s John […]