In The News

MPs Fail to Back Brexit Proposals: BBC

April 1, 2019
The United Kingdom still cannot decide on how they should end and replace membership in the European Union. The original deadline passed on March 29, and the European Union provided a brief extension. The concern is that the United Kingdom will leave without a deal, causing economic chaos. “The Commons voted on four motions for leaving the EU, including a customs union and a Norway-style...

Netanyahu Should Step Down: Economist

March 23, 2019
Recent charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust against Binyamin Netanyahu have drawn the Israeli prime minister into tangled public controversy as opponents and critics call for his resignation. As a recent article for the Economist observes, “Netanyahu refuses to go.” From all indications, he has no intentions to resign and still hopes to be re-elected. He helped engineer an electoral...

State of Emergency in Sudan: Economist

March 23, 2019
In response to tens of thousands of protestors mobilizing against rising food prices in Sudan and the resignation of president Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese leader instead declared a national state of emergency. On February 22, what began as a conciliatory national address, under rumors that Bashir would step down, ended with suspension of the constitution. The Economist observes, “in practice...

Mueller Report Completed: Washington Post

Matt Zapotosky and Rosalind S. Helderman March 22, 2019
A team under Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted a final report to the US Attorney General William Barr who will review the findings and determine which details can be shared with Congress and the public at large. Barr informed Congress that the department did not block investigators from pursing leads. The team was responsible for investigating interference in the 2016 presidential campaign...

Massage Parlor Owner and Trump Access: Mother Jones

Daniel Schulman, David Corn and Dan Friedman March 11, 2019
Embarrassing sexual behavior can compromise an individual’s ability to handle classified government information, and foreign intelligence agencies strive to identify individual weaknesses in order to obtain sensitive information or disrupt government operations. Police raided a Florida massage parlor in February after the facility was reported to be providing sexual services with women...

Turning to Asia: Al-Ahram

Abdel-Moneim Said February 28, 2019
Populism divides democracies of the West, leading to the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and election of Donald Trump. Such trends also hamper relations with the Middle East. An example of such difficulties includes a February conference in Warsaw on Iranian aggression and working around US withdrawal from a nuclear agreement with Iran. “Washington’s poor coordination with friends and allies...

El País: Globalization of Polarization

Moisés Naím January 28, 2019
Some political camps reject their opponents’ plans so much – even those supported by hefty majorities of citizens – that they refuse any cooperation, preferring shutdowns and chaos. Such is the case in the United States, Great Britain and numerous other democracies. The angry stubbornness associated with polarization is spreading worldwide, weakening most democracies. “Before, democratic...