Governance
Myanmar Military-Backed Party Sweeps Election Held Amid Civil War
Myanmar’s first general election since the 2021 military coup has ended almost exactly as expected. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has won an overwhelming parliamentary majority after voting was conducted in three…
Israel Becomes First Country to Recognise Somaliland as Independent State
Israel has become the first country in the world formally to recognise Somaliland as an independent sovereign state, breaking a diplomatic isolation that has lasted more than three decades. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in…
EU Agrees €90 Billion Ukraine Loan but Stops Short of Seizing Russian Assets
European leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan for 2026 and 2027, giving Kyiv a crucial financial lifeline as Russia’s war approaches its fifth year. The agreement reached at this week’s…
José Antonio Kast Wins Chile Presidency in Sharp Rightward Shift
Chile has elected José Antonio Kast president, completing one of the sharpest political reversals in Latin America this year. Kast defeated Jeannette Jara, the Communist Party member and former labour minister representing the governing left,…
Romania Water Crisis Leaves More Than 100,000 Without Safe Tap Water
More than 100,000 people in Romania’s Prahova and Dâmbovița counties have spent much of the past week without normal access to drinking water after a serious failure around the Paltinu reservoir and Voila treatment plant.
G20 Summit in Johannesburg Exposes a Growing Split Over the Global Economic Order
The G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend was supposed to demonstrate the growing influence of the Global South in international economic governance. It was the first G20 leaders’ summit held on African soil, hosted by…
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,…
US Government Shutdown Nears an End After Record 40-Day Standoff
The longest federal government shutdown in American history appears finally to be approaching an end. After 40 days without normal government funding, a group of Senate Democrats has joined Republicans behind a compromise that would…
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…
Madagascar’s Young People Are Protesting Over Water and Electricity. That Sounds Like a Local Infrastructure Problem. It Is Actually a Much Larger Question About What Makes a Government Legitimate.
Madagascar has entered a major political crisis after weeks of youth-led protests against power cuts, water shortages, corruption and poor governance developed into a broader challenge to President Andry Rajoelina’s government. The demonstrations began in…
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…
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…
