British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has eclipsed President Trump as the chaos-maker-in-chief. Just weeks into his tenure at 10 Downing Street, the new leader tried to take a wrecking ball to the political system and ended up hitting himself as well. This is all in the latest chapter of the …
You’ve heard this before, but we need to say it again: French President Emmanuel Macron pulled off something extraordinary in 2017. At the beginning of January, he was a 39-year-old maverick politician with a roguish smile and no institutional backing from the country’s dominant political parties. Six months later, he …
South Korea’s new leader will need diplomatic flexibility to confront many challenges, writes Dr John Nilsson-Wright. The outcome of South Korea’s presidential contest, while not quite an electoral landslide, certainly represents a seismic shift in the country’s political centre of gravity. Moon Jae-in’s success in winning the contest with some …
Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz’s month-long journey through Asia has been eye-catching because of its scale. The world’s most powerful royal is touring seven countries with a traveling court of more than 1,000 people, including 25 princes and 10 ministers. The entourage’s total baggage weighs a reported 506 tons. This week, Salman …
Key figures in the White House see themselves locked in a battle with the “deep state” — a term they’re using, as my colleagues explained, to describe “a group of Obama-aligned critics, federal bureaucrats and intelligence figures” as well as the media. Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist who once …
To understand the conflict’s legacy, consider what might have been. In the spring of 2015, my undergraduate son and I drove the length of the 1914-1918 Western Front, from the British battlefields in Flanders through the French zone in Champagne and Lorraine to the American cemeteries and monuments: Chateau-Thierry, St. …
Analysis: New elections may loom as no clear winner emerges from Sunday’s vote ISTANBUL — While many commentators will cast the results of Turkey’s general election on Sunday as heralding the end of an era, the outcome is, in fact, a moment of political uncertainty. The Justice and Development Party …
Russian President Vladimir Putin stands smiling between George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the U.S. president reaches out to shake hands with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It was a photo-op that couldn’t be missed: the military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2005, marking the 60th anniversary …
BANGKOK — Eleven months after overthrowing a democratically elected government, the military junta that seized control of Thailand is growing comfortable in power — and many Thais, battered by 15 stormy years of democracy, are not complaining. The junta has given Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief-turned-prime minister, almost unbridled power and has …
Lessons in strategy from an overlooked victory How to win a civil war in a globalized world where insurgents skillfully exploit offshore resources? With most conflicts now being such wars, this is a question many governments are trying to answer. Few succeed, with one major exception being Sri Lanka where, …
Presidential politics in 2016 will reflect the shifting reality of America. *** The country is going through the most significant period of change since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Across the United States, we are seeing a convergence of economic, technological and demographic forces that is transforming every aspect …
Depleted treasury, low oil prices may hamper the transformation incoming president Muhammadu Buhari promised to bring ABUJA, Nigeria — Muhammadu Buhari won an upset victory over Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan this week using a catchphrase that’s familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to American politics over the past eight years: …