To its many admirers, BTS is seen as an ambassador for its country, and an integral part of the global spread of Korean culture known as the Korean Wave,
@PrachiVidwans
writes:
The war in Ukraine is not a random catastrophe. It is the logical result of Russia’s trajectory since the 1990s.
The Baltic states warned Europe and the West about it. And no one listened, writes
@edwardlucas
.
Imran Khan, Pakistan’s popular former PM, is now facing the full might of the Pakistani state, and the effort to dismantle his party is inching Pakistan toward military rule, writes
@ArifCRafiq
.
The US government predicted Ukraine to last 96 hours (at most) after Russia's invasion,
@APHClarkson
reports. But Kyiv refused to fold, and in doing so changed our understanding of the world's balance of power.
The story of writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has sparked an international outcry over torture and political repression in Uganda, which seems to have entered an increasingly deadly phase,
@sophie_neiman
writes in this in-depth story.
Last week, a Ghanaian political pressure group organized a two-day protest over economic conditions in the country, including unemployment, the rising cost of living and the depreciation of Ghanaian currency.
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou’s run of good fortune since 2020 appears to have run out amid a scandal involving forged passports and an espionage case that has led to widespread popular discontent.
With the rest of the world distracted and China reopening after months of coronavirus lockdowns, Beijing has launched its most brazen effort yet to destroy Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
Singer-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine is running against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in next month’s election, but faces an escalating campaign of repression.
@sophie_neiman
reports:
Hong Kong is still alive, with subtler forms of creative defiance emerging and a society determined to preserve its identity, democratic spirit and every last one of its liberties,
@rachel_cheung1
reports:
Hong Kong is still alive, with subtler forms of creative defiance emerging and a society determined to preserve its identity, democratic spirit and every last one of its liberties.
With their new single, Kpop band
@BTS_twt
broke another record, getting 10m views on YouTube in just 13 minutes. In March,
@PrachiVidwans
explained that BTS “serves as a peak example of what the success of cultural industries can mean for South Korea.”
Amid a campaign of harassment and intimidation against opposition candidates in Tanzania, the fear of violence in this month's general election "is much greater than in previous elections," said
@TunduALissu
.
@sophie_neiman
reports:
Despite deepening social tensions and protests denouncing corruption, the high cost of living, and government overreach, Senegalese President Macky Sall is rumored to be considering a third-term bid.
Borso Tall (
@NBorso
) on how Senegal got here:
Countries that have experienced democratic erosion in the past show that the trade-offs Republicans are making—sacrificing democratic principles for partisan interests—have long-term costs.
If Namibian President Hage Geingob’s second term turns out to be like his first, he is likely to be remembered not only as the man who crashed the country’s economy, but also as the leader who brought the once imperious SWAPO Party down to earth.
When the Taliban took over, around 20,000 US-trained Afghan commandos were abandoned. Many of them fled to Iran. Now, they are being recruited to fight alongside the Russian military in Ukraine.
The scandal over a secret energy deal with Brazil, seen as an attempt by corrupt officials to compromise national interest, has hit a nerve in Paraguayan society.
“Partial privatization of military operations could end up as one of several factors that unravels the cohesion of the Russian state itself,” wrote Alexander Clarkson (
@APHClarkson
) last August.
In Guatemala, there is little hope that next year’s elections will reverse the country’s democratic backslide, especially as backlash to anti-corruption efforts gathers steam, writes Dinorah Azpuru.
Demonstrators in Eswatini have been taking to the streets since late June, demanding major constitutional changes, including an end to a ban on political parties and, at long last, the introduction of democracy.
France’s decision to disregard the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination in Western Sahara erodes one of the most fundamental tenets of the rules-based international order: the prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force,
@sarahleah1
writes.
Until powerful actors on the U.N. Security Council change their tune, Myanmar’s resistance is unlikely to get the level of support it hopes for, and the international community may miss its chance to avert a humanitarian disaster, writes
@PrachiVidwans
.
"Based on the statements made by their leaders, South Africans would hardly know that the largest invasion of a European state since the 1940s was in progress."
James Hamill on South Africa's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine:
Despite deepening social tensions and protests denouncing corruption, the high cost of living, and government overreach, Senegalese President Macky Sall is rumored to be considering a third-term bid, writes Borso Tall (
@NBorso
).
Elections in the UK must be held no later than December 2024, and it looks unlikely that Sunak can prevent Labour leader Keir Starmer from winning. How can Starmer address the sheer range of problems he will inherit?
Contrary to expectations that Hong Kong’s hobbled status as a global financial hub would hit Beijing where it hurts—in the pocketbook—business appears to be carrying on as usual, as corporations adjust to a riskier commercial climate.
@rachel_cheung1
:
“When the staunchest supporter of a rules-based order is openly hypocritical about the application of that order’s rules, it gives up the game,”
@ProfPaulPoast
writes.
After 30 years of slowly growing in stature and ambition, Somaliland is now too well-established to ignore, and its people are as devoted to self-determination as ever.
By dismissing outright the ICC’s charges against Israel’s leadership, President Biden undermined a core pillar of his own foreign policy agenda, namely that the US is the guardian of the rules-based order.
Read more here:
After decades of insufficient funding, misguided investments, and poor strategic planning, the US has allowed its position of maritime superiority in the Indo-Pacific to slip away, writes Blake Herzinger (
@BDHerzinger
).
A day of nationwide strikes against President Macron’s pension reform plans has paralyzed France. The big question now is whether Macron will blink and retract the law, which he pushed through last week without a parliamentary vote.
A year into Russia’s war in Ukraine, China is scrambling to limit the fallout of the conflict on its core strategic and economic interests, writes Jeffrey Mankoff (
@DrJMankoff
).
EU institutions might eventually take over for the US in leading defense and security in Europe.
It may ultimately be the most significant legacy of the war in Ukraine, writes
@APHClarkson
.
The delayed rape trial of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko resumed on Tuesday. Many in Senegal consider Sonko to be the “last chance” to beat President Macky Sall in next year’s presidential election, writes Borso Tall (
@NBorso
).
“I wanted to show the people of Uganda that they can elevate anybody anytime, and they can demote anybody anytime,” opposition leader Bobi Wine (
@HEBobiwine
) tells WPR in an interview about challenging President Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 elections.
If there has been a significant difference between the coup in Niger and others across the region in recent years, it has been in ECOWAS’ response to it, highlighting a potential transition to a new system of collective security in the region.
Egypt has made climate justice a priority ahead of hosting the UN COP27 Climate Change Conference next month. But will the country’s own record get in the way?
Mai El-Sadany (
@maitelsadany
) writes today’s briefing:
Stand News and Citizen News, two of Hong Kong’s independent media outlets, were forced to shutter last week, decisively narrowing what little space remains for independent journalism in the city, writes
@rachel_cheung1
in this week's China Note newsletter.
Testimonies of more than 200 people accusing senior Ugandan officials, including President Yoweri Museveni and his son, of torture, killings and other crimes against humanity have been submitted to the International Criminal Court.
Those who have dared to criticize Thailand’s monarchy say that their demands represent the views of a silent majority, who are used to discussing politics only in whispers.
In Bolivia, a dispute over the census reflects the rivalry between La Paz, the political heart of Bolivia, and Santa Cruz, its economic engine, that has been a feature of Bolivian politics for many years, writes
@FridaGhitis
.
"The restrictive, ineffective pandemic measures threaten Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial hub. More importantly, it puts the lives of its people at unnecessary risk."
Read this week's China Note here:
The story of writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has sparked an international outcry over torture and political repression in
#Uganda
, which may be entering an increasingly deadly phase.
Violence in Congo is essentially a proxy conflict between Congo and its neighbor Rwanda, with the potential to become a direct military confrontation—and a regional war, writes
@ProfPaulPoast
.
"Many Nigerians were distraught to see diplomatic messages that essentially amounted to an endorsement of a deeply flawed poll."
@Illustrious_Cee
on Nigeria's presidential election in this week's Africa Watch newsletter:
We’re really excited to announce that Chris Ogunmodede (
@Illustrious_Cee
) will be joining the team as our new Associate Editor. He’ll be taking the helm on Africa Watch and managing our other newsletters. Welcome aboard, Chris!
An overwhelming majority of Africans believe that democracy is the best form of government and that free, fair elections remain the ideal way to choose their leaders.
Across the world, from the U.S. to Europe and Asia, populism is a rising political force. Our latest report, The Global Rise of Populism, takes an in-depth look at populism and its implications for liberal democracy. Get it FREE here:
The Biden administration’s efforts at democratic engagement must take place on equal footing, built on a foundation of honesty,
@Smith_JeffreyT
and
@toddjmoss
write:
Echoing arguments made by
@KarenAttiah
and
@jelani9
, WPR’s
@hofrench
writes that it is time for American journalists “to begin thinking about the United States with the critical distance and rigor that one finds in the very best foreign correspondence.”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has so much power that “even basic things like your shelter, or the life of your neighbor, your friend, are things that are subsumed by the state,”
@anjansun
said.
@sophie_neiman
reports on the “Hotel Rwanda” hero’s arrest:
Can India rise to the ranks of great powers?
Answering that question requires unpacking the factors that make great powers great, columnist
@ProfPaulPoast
writes.
Observers warned for months that Jair Bolsonaro would not accept defeat if he lost Brazil’s presidential election. It was precisely because of those warnings that he had no choice but to accept the loss when the time came, writes
@FridaGhitis
.
The attack on international students seems to mark a new phase in the Trump administration’s descent into a more virulent nativism that regards all immigrants with suspicion,
@CFR_org
’s
@edwardalden
writes:
In today’s column,
@RichardGowan1
runs down the best summer reads for foreign policy professionals – or anyone looking to understand the current state of geopolitics:
“Inadequate funding of the Navy, and Beijing’s enormous investment in its own naval capabilities, has left Washington without the capacity to deter China by itself,” writes Blake Herzinger (
@BDHerzinger
).
The Trump administration twice approved the transfer of nuclear technical expertise to Saudi Arabia after last year’s murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to new revelations this week.
Over the past year, numerous countries, led by the US and EU, have leveled an unprecedented amount of economic sanctions on Russia. Now, the question is: Are they working? As
@ProfPaulPoast
writes, the answer is unfortunately no.
While the first results from Kenya's massive universal basic income experiment will take a few years to materialize, the pilot program is already delivering some revealing insights.
In his latest column,
@CFR_org
's
@StewartMPatrick
highlights a new U.S. intelligence assessment warning that the brutal impacts of climate change are poised to upend geopolitics over the next two decades.
Multilateral wars do not just happen. They are preceded by rapid movements toward alliance formation and consolidation of the kind we are seeing today,
@ProfPaulPoast
writes.
“The objective of the regime is to create fear, to make sure that people are so scared of saying anything,” Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine told
@sophie_neiman
:
In Ghana, growing anxiety over a worsening economy and a rising cost of living. It’s a troubling, if predictable, development that Ghana’s leaders failed to detect, writes
@Illustrious_Cee
.
Unable to run in next year’s election due to the constitutional two-term limit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo will leave behind a complex legacy, Erin Cook (
@dmkmtoday
) writes.
To be a credible actor in the Indo-Pacific, Europe must prepare for a conflict contingency involving Taiwan, as this is its best hope of helping to prevent one from occurring,
@AntoineBondaz
and
@BrunoTertrais
write:
For decades, Germany’s patriarchy believed they had the influence to make Russia a better place. Now, it may be impossible for them to admit they were played for fools.
President Xi Jinping toured Wuhan last week in what amounted to a victory lap, writes
@rzhongnotes
. But while Xi portrays himself as a savior, his policies have prioritized his political wellbeing over the public’s health.