Elections
Chile Election Sends Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast to December Runoff
Chile has voted in the first round of a presidential election that looks almost completely different from the one that brought Gabriel Boric to power four years ago. With nearly all votes counted, Jeannette Jara,…
Madagascar’s Protesters Wanted Rajoelina Gone. Now He Is Gone, and the Military Has Taken Power. Removing a Failed Government Is Much Easier Than Building a Better One.
Madagascar’s Gen Z uprising has achieved the objective that appeared almost impossible only weeks ago: President Andry Rajoelina is no longer governing the country. But the manner in which he fell should complicate any simple…
Georgia’s Ruling Party Says It Won Every Municipality. The Opposition Tried to Force Its Way Into the Presidential Palace. A Country That Once Seemed Almost Certain to Join Europe Is Now Fighting Over What “Europe” Even Means.
Georgia’s political crisis has entered a substantially more dangerous phase. In yesterday’s local elections, the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in every municipality across the country after the two largest opposition blocs boycotted the…
Moldova Is Voting Between Europe and Russia. Can a Small Democracy Remain Politically Sovereign When Much Larger Powers Can Influence Its Politics Without Crossing Its Border.
Moldovans are voting today in one of the most consequential parliamentary elections in the country’s recent history. President Maia Sandu’s pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is attempting to retain enough parliamentary power to…
Britain, Canada, Australia and Others Are Preparing to Recognise Palestine. Recognition Matters, but a State Cannot Survive on Diplomatic Recognition Alone.
The international diplomatic balance around Palestinian statehood is undergoing one of its largest changes in decades. Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, several Western governments have moved towards formally recognising the…
Trump Has Signed His “One Big Beautiful Bill”. America Is Cutting Taxes, Increasing Defence and Border Spending, and Cutting Parts of the Safety Net at the Same Time. The Arithmetic Eventually Has to Meet the Politics.
Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on 4 July, turning much of the economic programme on which he returned to the White House into legislation. The package makes major elements…
Poland’s Nationalist Candidate Has Won the Presidency by Less Than Two Percentage Points. Europe Should Pay Attention to the 50–50 Country Emerging Across the Continent.
Poland has just completed one of the closest elections in its democratic history. Conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki, backed by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), has defeated Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski in the presidential…
Poland Votes Again Next Week. The Election Is Really About Whether Winning Government Is Enough When Your Opponents Still Control Institutions Capable of Stopping You.
Poland is heading towards an extraordinarily close presidential runoff on 1 June between Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and conservative historian Karol Nawrocki, after neither candidate won a majority in the first round on 18…
Romania Just Chose a Pro-European President Over the Nationalist Right. But Winning 54–46 Is Not the Same Thing as Defeating the Politics That Produced the 46.
Romania has just completed one of the strangest and most consequential presidential elections in modern European politics. Nicușor Dan, the independent, pro-European mayor of Bucharest, has defeated nationalist George Simion in today’s presidential runoff after…
Trump Wants Interest Rates Lower and Says Powell’s “Termination Cannot Come Fast Enough”. The Bigger Question Is Why Democracies Deliberately Give Unelected Central Bankers So Much Power.
Donald Trump’s confrontation with the Federal Reserve has intensified sharply. After Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned this week that Trump’s tariffs could produce higher inflation and weaker growth, Trump accused him of being too…
Germany Is Preparing to Borrow Hundreds of Billions for Defence and Infrastructure. The Bigger Change Is That Europe’s Largest Economy Has Decided Fiscal Restraint Can Become a Security Risk.
Germany has approved one of the largest changes to its fiscal architecture since reunification. On 21 March, the Bundesrat approved constitutional changes previously passed by the Bundestag that will loosen Germany’s famous debt brake for…
Germany Has Voted. The Centre-Right Won, the Far Right Surged, and the Parties Actually Governing the Country Were Punished.
Germany voted today in an election that may prove more important than an ordinary change of government. Early results put Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU first with roughly 29% of the vote, positioning him to become the…
