Politics
Ethiopia Declared Victory. Seven Months Later, It Lost Mekelle.
For months, forces aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had continued fighting the Ethiopian military and its allies despite the federal government’s capture of Mekelle last November. Recently, those Tigrayan forces launched a major…
Holding an Election Does Not Necessarily Make a Democracy
Abiy was not originally elected prime minister in a national election. He came to power in 2018 after years of anti-government protests forced a political transition within Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. He promised reform, released political…
You Don’t Have to Trust Someone to Talk to Them
After several hours, the two presidents emerged separately, held separate press conferences and acknowledged that they continued to disagree about almost everything that brought them there in the first place. Strangely, I think that may…
The G7 Wants to Prove That Democracies Can Still Lead the World
There were the usual photographs: leaders standing beside the sea, elbow bumps instead of handshakes, carefully arranged bilateral meetings and an enormous communiqué containing promises on everything from vaccines to climate change. But underneath all…
Can Governments Finally Catch Up With Global Companies?
But the agreement reached by the G7 this weekend could eventually change how some of the world’s largest companies are taxed and, more importantly, says something fascinating about a problem governments have created for themselves.
Belarus, Sanctions and the Limits of International Power
Ryanair Flight 4978 was travelling from Athens to Vilnius when Belarusian authorities informed its pilots of an alleged bomb threat and the aircraft landed in Minsk. Once it did, Belarus arrested opposition journalist Roman Protasevich…
A Ceasefire Is Not Peace
After eleven days of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire mediated by Egypt. For Israelis who had spent nights running towards bomb shelters and Palestinians who had lived through Israeli bombardment of Gaza,…
Jerusalem, Gaza and the Problem With Choosing a Side
Rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israeli cities. Israel has responded with extensive air strikes on Gaza. Buildings have collapsed, families have been killed and Israeli civilians have repeatedly rushed towards bomb shelters. Yet…
India’s Second Wave Is Becoming a Political Crisis
On Wednesday, India reported 382,315 new COVID-19 cases and 3,780 deaths in just twenty-four hours. The World Health Organization reported that India accounted for almost half of the COVID-19 cases recorded globally in the previous…
What Does an Election Really Tell Us?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP campaigned intensely across the state, hoping to replace Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. The election became one of the biggest political battles in India. Today, the result…
When Leadership Becomes a Responsibility
For months, COVID-19 statistics have almost become ordinary. Every morning there are new cases, new deaths and new restrictions. But this week in India, the numbers stopped feeling like numbers. Hospitals are struggling for beds.
20 Years Later: When Is It Time to Leave?
This week, President Joe Biden announced that all American troops would leave Afghanistan by 11 September 2021, bringing America’s longest war towards an end. Twenty years. That number feels almost impossible to understand. The war…
