#politics

     At the “Valdai Discussion Club” in February 2012, Putin accused the West of employing “a matrix of tools and methods to reach foreign policy goals without the use of arms but by exerting information and other levers of influence . . . to develop and provoke extremist, separatist and nationalistic attitudes, to manipulate […]

According to Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut, Erdogan throws around charges of being a Gulenist or associated with Jews or a member of a terror group in the framework of spreading “conspiracy theories” against his opponents.  According to Turkish journalist Rafael Sadi, “Erdogan’s government is very scared and is looking everywhere for Gulenists.  They are suspicious […]

Entering adulthood is never easy. For the 1.8 billion youth in the world today– the most in history– the challenges are particularly daunting. Not only are more than one-fifth of global youth not in employment, education or training, and a quarter affected by violence or armed conflict, but the world itself is facing existential threats to global peace and […]

Writing on Brazil has become an exercise in futility. With the ever-accelerating tempo of political developments, predictions seem anachronistic within a week’s time.

Latin America will suffer a recession this year. This will not only have economic consequences for the next three years, but also transform Latin American politics, ending a decade-long division.

When oppositions win by significant margin, the tendency is for sweeping changes. The previous regime’s leaders are investigated, arrested and prosecuted for corruption. Policies are thrown out the window and new constitutions are drafted. Myanmar has taken a different path.

For years, oil has been powered our increasingly technologically dependent world. Oil alternatives are becoming increasingly popular, and coupled with the Persian Gulf’s limited supply, many governments have tried to stay ahead of the market, which forecasts a world that’s not dependent on the Arabian Peninsula’s oil.

Over the weekend, the New York Times published an article titled “In Cold War Echo, Obama Strategy Writes Off Putin.” It caught my eye because it used the catchphrase – Cold War – that politicians as policymakers, journalists as conveyers and we as an audience have grown familiar with. Literary devices go a long way […]

Millions of citizens of African countries will go to the polls in Presidential, parliamentary/legislative, state/provincial, and local elections in 2014. We will surely cover many of those here at the FPA. Here is an early preview of which elections are happening where (as of January 8) with brief commentary on several of them: Southern Africa:  […]

As regular readers know, the United States and five other countries (P5+1) concluded an interim nuclear agreement (the Joint Plan of Action) with Iran, setting the conditions that will hold during negotiations on a final agreement concerning the Iranian nuclear program and the international economic sanctions imposed on that country and also outlining some aspects […]

Should those (mostly women) who do not participate in the labor market, instead remaining at home to look after the house and raise children, receive compensation for their work? It’s a thorny issue which is as divisive as it is complex. In the final referendum of 2013, Swiss voters were asked to share their opinion […]

Recent protests in Cape Town (and an article about those protests in the Mail and Guardian) provide a useful reminder that much of the discontent among South Africans, even those who otherwise would proclaim their fealty to the African National Congress (ANC), comes down to the delivery of services. This phrase is ubiquitous among politically […]