In The News

Trump, CIA on Collision Course: Washington Post

David Nakamura and Greg Miller December 12, 2016
US President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters, intent on overturning some longstanding policies, have shown a penchant for not trusting scientific, government or intelligence experts. The CIA is responsible for providing national-security intelligence to the president and policymakers – and in a report suggests that Russian operatives intervened in the election by releasing hacked US...

OPEC Cobbles a Deal, But Cannot Hide Decline of Saudi Power

Chris Miller December 8, 2016
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was created by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in 1960. OPEC now has 13 members. During the 1970s, oil prices quadrupled, but OPEC's ability to set strict production limits and influence prices has slipped away in recent years. It took more than two years after the crash in oil prices for the oil producers, along with Russia,...

A Europe of Merkel and Fillon?

Camille Pecastaing December 6, 2016
François Fillon and Angela Merkel lead in the polls to become the respective leaders of France and Germany. Both cater to the center-right and embrace free-trade, the EU and globalization. Their similar platforms as well as past tenure together could shore up “the French-German dynamic [that] has been so central to the construction of Europe since the 1950s,” writes Camille Pecastaing for Foreign...

Taiwan, Thorn in China’s Side, Gets New Attention

Mark Harrison December 6, 2016
Disagreements set aside for too long can calcify, and Taiwan is such an example. The fact that a phone call between US President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen kicked up a storm highlights how frozen the differences have become. Mark Harrison, who lectures in Chinese Studies at the University of Tasmania, provides background on the relationship between Taiwan and China...

Italy Sinks Into Political Limbo as Defeat Sweeps Renzi Away

John Follain and Chiara Albanese December 5, 2016
Italy is Europe’s fourth largest economy and the country is falling “into political limbo after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation, with rival parties jockeying to fill the power vacuum following his crushing defeat in a constitutional referendum,” reports Bloomberg. The constitutional reforms were intended to reduce the size of parliament, putting limits on the Senate, and...

Divisions Within Afghanistan’s Government Reach New Crisis Point

Pamela Constable December 1, 2016
Impeachment of seven Afghan cabinet ministers demonstrates the fragility of Afghanistan’s new democratic institutions. President Ashraf Ghani confronts public criticism, and lawmakers accuse each other of abusing power and accomplishing little. Afghanistan’s ethnic divisions complicate the debate over governance. This instability follows more than a decade of US involvement in the country, and 10...

Erdogan to Release Migrants if EU Blocks Membership Talks

Caroline Mortimer November 30, 2016
Members of the European Parliament voted for a temporary pause in negotiations on Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union due to worries about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's heavy-handed response to July’s coup. Specific concerns include treatment of political dissidents and potential restoration of the death penalty, which is banned by the EU. “The talks were part of a wide-ranging...