In The News

The Stakes of Italy’s Referendum

Mario Margiocco November 28, 2016
Italy votes December 4 on a referendum on constitutional reforms –including reducing the size of the upper house of parliament and reinforcing separation of powers. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised to step down if voters reject the referendum. “A defeat for Renzi will be read as a victory for Italy’s two major populist parties: the Lega Nord and the larger Five Star Movement, led by the...

Promises Trump Can’t Keep

Nayan Chanda November 28, 2016
US President-elect Donald Trump made big promises on trade and jobs that will be tough to keep without wrecking key industries along with the global economy. Essentially, he suggested that he could restore US manufacturing jobs by blocking new trade deals like the Tans-Pacific Partnership and walking back on old deals like the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. The plan has problems. Such trade...

With Trump, Amerexit?

Nayan Chanda November 25, 2016
President-elect Donald Trump is inexperienced and after January 20 may come to understand that the many global challenges won’t be resolved with easy answers, quick fixes or policies light on detail. His comments during campaign rallies suggested that the United States would embrace isolationist policies – perhaps with the exception of Russia. “Yet, the contradictions in Trump’s campaign slogans...

League of Nationalists

November 25, 2016
Despite living in a world that shares numerous global challenges, voters increasingly place their trust in a new nationalism. Some are unnerved by lost jobs and blame an increasing number of foreign-born living in their midst. Others long for self-reliance. “All societies draw on nationalism of one sort or another to define relations between the state, the citizen and the outside world,” notes...

Is A Trump Presidency Really a Big Win for Putin?

Reid Standish November 24, 2016
Among Donald Trump’s consistent positions during the US presidential campaign was a respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a desire to restore US ties with a Cold War adversary. Reid Standish writes in Foreign Policy that Putin celebrated Trump’s win because it represents a chance for him to “restore Russia’s global status and reopen ties with the West.” Trump has not laid out clear...

China and Russia Take the Helm of Interpol

Robbie Gramer November 21, 2016
The International Criminal Police Organization elected a Chinese official for its president and a Russian for vice president. Alexander Prokopchuk, one of four Interpol vice presidents, is the first Russian to hold the position. Meng Hongwei will lead the organization until 2020, and human rights watchers express concern that China could manipulate the office for its own interests. Beijing will...

Donald Trump and the Coming Test of International Order

Uri Friedman November 21, 2016
Foreign policy experts suggest that Trump may pose a test to the post-WWII international order, led by the United States and shaped by alliances, an open economy and support for liberal institutions. For seven decades, Republican and Democratic administrations argued in favor such an order and assumed that the consequences of collapse would be enormous. Uri Friedman interviews several experts for...