Diplomacy
India and America Are Getting Closer. That Does Not Mean India Is Becoming an American Ally.
Narendra Modi will travel to Washington this week for a state visit hosted by President Joe Biden, including a state dinner and an address to a joint meeting of the US Congress. The ceremony will…
Turkey Has Inflation, a Weakened Currency and an Earthquake Recovery Crisis. Erdoğan Could Still Win Again.
Turkey is voting again today after neither Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu secured an outright majority in the first round of the presidential election two weeks ago. Erdoğan entered the runoff with the advantage…
The G7 Does Not Want to Stop Trading With China. It Wants to Stop Being Unable to Function Without It.
The leaders of the G7 met in Hiroshima this weekend with Ukraine dominating much of the summit. Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Japan, the G7 reaffirmed military, financial and diplomatic support for Ukraine and announced further…
Turkey Is Holding a Real Election. That Does Not Mean the Playing Field Is Level.
Tens of millions of Turks voted today in an election that may determine whether Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s two decades at the centre of Turkish politics continue. Erdoğan first became prime minister in 2003 and later…
America Can Afford to Pay Its Debts. Congress May Still Prevent It From Doing So.
The United States is approaching another debt-ceiling confrontation. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the federal government could become unable to satisfy all of its obligations as early as 1 June unless…
Sudan’s Generals Started a War Neither Can Easily Afford to Lose.
Two weeks ago, fighting began in Sudan between the regular military led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or Hemedti. What initially looked like a…
Sudan’s Democratic Transition Was Supposed to Transfer Power to Civilians. The Men With the Guns Never Really Transferred Theirs.
Heavy fighting erupted across Sudan yesterday between the country’s regular armed forces and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Gunfire and explosions have been reported across Khartoum, while fighting has occurred around airports, military installations…
Tsai Met McCarthy in California Instead of Taipei. China Still Surrounded Taiwan With Military Exercises.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday. Three days later, China’s People’s Liberation Army began major military exercises around Taiwan involving aircraft, warships and simulated operations against the…
Russia Does Not Need to Invade Moldova to Make Moldova Less Stable.
Moldova is not at war with Russia. Russian tanks are not advancing towards Chișinău, and Moldovan soldiers are not fighting Russian forces along the border. Yet the war in neighbouring Ukraine has increasingly made the…
Pakistan Thought It Had Contained the Taliban Insurgency. Peshawar Suggests the Problem Was Never Really Gone.
On Monday morning, hundreds of people gathered for prayers inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines compound. The location should have been among the more secure places in the city. Police Lines contains police headquarters…
The Taliban Has Banned Women From University. This Is Not Only a Human-Rights Disaster. It Is a Strategy for Power.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education instructed every public and private university in the country to suspend education for female students until further notice. The order was effective immediately. By Wednesday morning, women arriving…
Anwar Ibrahim Finally Became Malaysia’s Prime Minister. His Hardest Compromise Came After He Won.
Anwar Ibrahim has spent almost a quarter of a century moving between the centre of Malaysian power and its political margins. He served as deputy prime minister during the 1990s, appeared positioned to succeed Mahathir…
