China Note China Seeks a New Narrative for Its Belt and Road Initiative Benjamin Wilhelm Wednesday, April 24, 2019 China is expected to promote a rebooted version of its Belt and Road Initiative when world leaders from 37 countries gather in Beijing this week for the second Belt and Road Forum. Critics have long viewed the initiative as a bid to spread Chinese influence abroad via “debt-trap diplomacy” and other tactics.
Q&A How Ecuador’s Moreno Is Undoing Correa’s Legacy, and Not Just With Assange The Editors Wednesday, April 24, 2019 Earlier this month, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno stripped Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of the asylum he’d been granted in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012, under former President Rafael Correa. That decision is only part of Moreno’s broader effort to roll back key aspects of Correa’s legacy.
Q&A Maldives Voters Sweep Away the Remnants of a Corrupt, China-Backed Regime The Editors Tuesday, April 23, 2019 President Ibrahim Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party scored a historic victory in the Maldives’ parliamentary elections earlier this month, clearing the way for a full accounting of the debts incurred by Solih’s predecessor. David Brewster discusses the significance of those results for Solih going forward.
Q&A Despite High-Level Diplomacy, Old Obstacles Still Block Peace in Nagorno-Karabakh The Editors Friday, April 19, 2019 Recent high-level diplomatic engagement between Armenia and Azerbaijan has raised expectations for progress on resolving the frozen conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. But while there have been some tentative signs of progress, the two sides are still fundamentally at odds on important issues, says Laurence Broers.
Africa Watch Ebola Is Spreading Rapidly in Eastern Congo, Fueled by Mistrust of Health Workers Robbie Corey-Boulet Friday, April 19, 2019 The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst in the country’s history, yet many people living in affected areas have yet to come to terms with the danger the disease poses. Read up on that and other stories from across the continent in our weekly roundup of Africa news.
Q&A Trump’s Latest Reversal in Cuba Policy Is a ‘Slap in the Face’ to U.S. Allies The Editors Thursday, April 18, 2019 In a reversal of more than two decades of U.S. policy, the Trump administration announced yesterday that it would allow Cuban Americans to sue foreign companies operating on Cuban property seized during the 1959 revolution. In an interview, William M. LeoGrande discusses the move’s implications.
China Note Why China’s ‘Orwellian’ Social Credit Scheme Enjoys Domestic Support Benjamin Wilhelm Wednesday, April 17, 2019 Aspects of China’s “social credit” system, which U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has derided as “Orwellian,” have prompted valid concerns about the potential for misuse of personal information. Yet the system has pragmatic objectives that many Chinese people support, scholar Genia Kostka says in an email interview.
Q&A Brazil’s Bolsonaro Faces His First Real Governing Test: Pension Reform The Editors Wednesday, April 17, 2019 Lawmakers in Brazil are expected to begin discussions on a draft proposal to reform the country’s pension system next week, a key hurdle for President Jair Bolsonaro. In an interview, Peter Kingstone discusses the thorny political issues surrounding the high-stakes debate over pension reform in Brazil.
Q&A Without Dialogue Between India and Pakistan, Another Kashmir Crisis Is Inevitable The Editors Monday, April 15, 2019 In late February and early March, India and Pakistan engaged in a series of aerial skirmishes sparked by a deadly suicide bombing attack on Indian security personnel in disputed Kashmir. Avinash Paliwal discusses the longer history of the dispute and what it will take to prevent future crises from escalating.
Can South Korea’s Moon Revive Stalled Nuclear Talks With North Korea? Elliot Waldman Monday, April 15, 2019 In the aftermath of the failed summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi earlier this year, the task of resuscitating talks has fallen to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon’s willingness to mediate is commendable, but he faces an uphill climb.
Africa Watch After Bashir’s Ouster, Can Sudan’s Protesters Force an End to Military Rule? Robbie Corey-Boulet Friday, April 12, 2019 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade rule came to an end this week amid ongoing protests. Yet protest leaders immediately signaled that they weren’t satisfied with military’s plans for a transition. Read up on that and other stories from across the continent in our weekly roundup of Africa news.
Q&A India’s Anti-Satellite Missile Test Underscores the Need for a New Space Treaty Elliot Waldman Thursday, April 11, 2019 Last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a triumphant announcement: India had successfully shot down one of its own satellites in low-Earth orbit with a missile. But space experts caution that the debris created by the test poses a threat to other satellites and spacecraft orbiting Earth.
