Subterms
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as AMLO) reacted last week to the news that a corruption investigation into Mexico’s nationalized petroleum industry, Pemex, had moved on to target his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Though aware of the attorney general’s investigation into another personality active during the previous regime — former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya […] More
Most political observers sensed that former US President Barack Obama was keeping a close eye on the Democratic primaries with a view to engineering events leading up to this year’s convention. Months ago they had heard rumblings about his determination to prevent Senator Bernie Sanders from getting the nomination. In early March, the day before […] More
In November 2019, Luis Lacalle Pou was elected president of Uruguay after defeating the ruling party candidate and former Montevideo mayor, Daniel Martinez, in the second round. President Lacalle Pou’s inauguration in March marked the end of a decade and a half of executive leadership by members of Uruguay’s left-wing Broad Front party, which included […] More
The revolt against the coronavirus lockdown is brewing in the United States. At the heart of US culture is the notion that everyone knows what’s best for themselves and they don’t need a government or even their neighbors to tell them what to do. Chris Cuomo demonstrated that principle on Easter Sunday. The CNN host […] More
Just days after replacing Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the UK’s Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer finds himself confronted with the task of dealing with an alarming report leaked to the media this week. The 860-page document reveals the depth of factionalism within the party and the very real impact it may have had on […] More
In no country in Europe has COVID-19 claimed more victims than in Italy. Similarly, nowhere in Europe has the radical populist right benefitted more from the pandemic than in Italy. At the beginning of April, polls had Italy’s two major radical right-wing populist parties — Matteo Salvini’s Lega (League) and Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers […] More
After a five-year-long conflict, hope for a new round of peace talks in Yemen begins to fade away a week into Saudi Arabia’s unilateral halt to military operations. Soon after the announcement on April 9, confusion set in over the intent of the ceasefire and the lack of monitoring. Clashes between Houthi militias and Yemeni […] More
We are told we live in an era of strongmen. The narrative also runs that these strongmen stick together. From the cozy relationship between China and Russia at the UN Security Council — led by Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin — to the mutual support of the likes of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin […] More
