Politics & Diplomacy

Has Moscow really turned against Assad?

By Mark N. Katz

Russian articles criticizing the Assad regime do not presage a Kremlin effort to replace him, but are, instead, a concerted Russian effort to get the Assad regime to change its ways.

Enough already

By Melinda Haring

There are other troubling signs on the horizon. Reformers in Kyiv worry that a revanche is underway and civil service, medical, anti-corruption, and fiscal reforms are all under attack.

State of the Order: Assessing April 2020

The State of the Order breaks down the month's most important events impacting the democratic world order.

IGAD executive secretary lays out priorities amid coronavirus crisis

By Africa Center

On Monday, May 11, the Africa Center hosted a virtual roundtable with His Excellency Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The discussion focused on IGAD's response to East Africa's evolving challenges.

Here’s why the EU project, age 70, must win the pandemic test

By Frederick Kempe

On this week’s 70th anniversary of the European Union’s beginnings with the Schuman Declaration, the project that was launched to end centuries of war is in an existential struggle with a pathogen that knows no borders. It’s however not too late for the EU to demonstrate its resilience and relevance at this time of crisis. On this 70th anniversary, it’s also worth remembering the common global and transatlantic interest in European stability and success.

COVID-19 is increasing strategic uncertainty in Southeast Asia

By Adam Schwarz

Nothing that’s happened on COVID-19 yet—including China’s much commented-on ‘mask diplomacy’—is going to sway opinions or foreign policy alignments in Southeast Asia in fundamental ways. But that could change depending on what steps China and the United States take as their relationship moves—as it now seems likely to do—in a sharper, more antagonistic direction in the months and years to come.

Palestinians fight skepticism over whether they can stop annexation

By Jonathan Ferziger

Palestinians are scrambling to galvanize international opposition to Israel's annexation of some thirty percent of the West Bank while battling skepticism that they can do anything to stop it.