In The News

Los Angeles Times: Is the US Facing a Border Crisis?

Cindy Carcamo October 23, 2018
A caravan of migrants originating in Honduras is headed to the United States. Now in Mexico, the migrants number more than 7,000, picking up more people along the way as group travel provides security and draws attention to fears about political instability and gang violence at home. The US president has threatened to use the military to forcibly stop the migrants from approaching the border to...

BBC News: Merkel’s Three Challenges

Jenny Hill October 15, 2018
Chancellor Angela Merkel's already weakened government confronts challenges after Sunday's election in Germany’s largest federal state – Bavaria. Jenny Hill explains for BBC News that the ruling Christian Social Union, a coalition partner with Merkel’s more conservative Christian Democrat Union, lost its majority in the Bavarian state parliament. The party’s leader still serves as...

NewStatesman: Why Sweden Is Turning Right

Andrew Brown September 17, 2018
The Scandinavian countries have long been a role model on human rights, equality and control over globalization. But Sweden is slowly showing a rightward shift, and its leading anti-immigrant party, the Sweden Democrats won 17 percent in the September election. Swedes worry about a loss of control with the shutdown of traditional industries like shipyards, increased crime and changes in culture...

BBC News: Europe and Nationalism

September 10, 2018
Nationalist and far-right parties are making electoral gains throughout Europe. The most recent example: Sweden Democrats winning about 18 percent of the vote on September 9. BBC News points to common themes including opposition to immigration and refugees, Islam and the European Union project: “In part, this can be seen as a backlash against the political establishment in the wake of the...

New York Times: Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

September 6, 2018
The United States is in democratic crisis with chaos in the White House and ongoing questions about the president’s capabilities. The New York Times took the extraordinary step of publishing an anonymous opinion essay said to be written by a senior official in the Trump administration, among the many “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations…. But...

Stratfor: Brazil's Farming Lobby Wields Growing Power

August 31, 2018
Brazil is a leading agriculture producer after the United States, China and India and a major exporter. The country’s agriculture sector supports trade, which increases agriculture’s political heft and influence over foreign policies, whereas the sector in the United States and the European Union is more protectionist. “With such influence, the farm lobby has forced the government to reduce tax...

HuffPost: Manafort Is Tiny Part of DC Lobbying Corruption

Paul Blumenthal August 22, 2018
Foreign governments make their preferences known about leaders of other nations, with some attempting to influence policies and even elections. Paul Manafort, the former chairman of the Trump campaign, has been found guilty of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The jury could not reach a decision on 10 other counts....