Governance
China’s Economic Model Helped Produce One of History’s Greatest Growth Stories. It May Now Be Becoming the Problem.
China’s economy is sending increasingly uncomfortable signals. The property crisis that began with heavily indebted developers such as Evergrande has spread towards Country Garden, previously considered one of the healthier major private developers. Consumer spending…
Argentina’s Economy Has Failed So Repeatedly That Radical Change Is Starting to Look Less Risky Than the Status Quo.
Argentina voted today in its unusual nationwide presidential primaries, and the strongest individual performance came not from either of the political movements that have dominated the country for decades but from Javier Milei, a libertarian…
Imran Khan Has Been Sent to Prison. The Question Is Not Whether Politicians Should Face the Law, but Whether Pakistan’s Law Applies Politically.
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison and arrested after a court convicted him in a case concerning state gifts received while he was prime minister. The case…
Niger’s Soldiers Say Democracy Failed to Provide Security. That Does Not Mean Soldiers Can.
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum was detained by members of his presidential guard on Wednesday, and the country’s constitutionally elected government has effectively been overthrown. General Abdourahamane Tiani, who commanded the presidential guard that detained Bazoum,…
NATO Says Ukraine Will Join. It Still Will Not Say When.
NATO leaders met in Vilnius this week only around 30 kilometres from the Belarusian border, with one question dominating much of the summit: what exactly does the alliance mean when it says Ukraine’s future belongs…
France’s Riots Began With a Police Shooting. They Are About More Than One Police Officer.
France has spent much of this week experiencing its most serious urban unrest in years. On Tuesday morning, police stopped 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk while he was driving in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. Video…
Modi’s Washington Visit Was Not Really About Friendship. It Was About Who Builds the Technologies That Will Define the Next Twenty Years.
Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington this week produced all the symbolism expected from one of America’s highest forms of diplomatic recognition. President Joe Biden hosted him at the White House, Modi addressed a joint…
India Has Built a New Parliament. The More Important Question Is What Parliament Is Supposed to Represent.
India inaugurated a new Parliament building last Sunday. The triangular complex stands beside the old circular Parliament House constructed during British rule and will eventually become the principal physical home of the world’s largest representative…
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…
Macron’s Pension Reform May Be Constitutional. That Does Not Automatically Make It Politically Legitimate.
France’s retirement age is supposed to rise from 62 to 64 under a pension reform that President Emmanuel Macron argues is necessary to protect the financial sustainability of the country’s pension system. The policy itself…
