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Around the World
Shortly after the annexation of Crimea, the G8 revoked Russia’s membership to the group, while the United States, the EU, and other members of the international community imposed harsh economic sanctions on Moscow. Katya Dajani explores the efficacy of the West’s policy toward Russia, which despite these penalties, has experienced a recent surge in nationalism.
Meanwhile, on June 7, President Recep Teyyip Erdoğan’s Justice Development Party (AKP) failed to secure the 330 seats needed to fulfill Erdoğan’s dream of a hyper-presidential system. Sasha Mitchell argues this electoral failure marks a turning point in Turkish politics, stating this might be the beginning of the end of an Erdoğan dynasty.
Moving south, the recent Global Findex database report shows that South Africans prefer to borrow from friends and family than from financial institutions. Faith Kiarie urges the South African government to endeavor to include the most vulnerable sectors of the population in the formal market.
On today’s episode of World Policy On Air, does solving the refugee crisis playing out across the Mediterranean require a more holistic approach from EU member states? Host David Alpern asks Sophie des Beauvais of the Fondation Pour l’innovation Politique in Paris about this issue, which she wrote about in her most recent World Policy article, “Ending the European Refugee Crisis.”
Around the Institute
The recent spate of devastating natural disasters and record breaking winters in the northern hemisphere have led the global community to start thinking more critically about the implications of climate change. Join us on Monday June 22, 2015 at 10:30 AM EST in a Twitter chat with our panel of global experts, weighing in from six continents, about who in their respective countries has the most to lose from addressing this unfolding environmental reality. Follow #ClimatesCliff to join in on the discussion.
With the United States’ recent assumption of the two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the World Policy Institute has partnered with award-winning media firm, News Deeply, in launching the Arctic Deeply Roundtables, a series of vital conversations focused on the global implications of the receding Arctic Circle. On Tuesday June 23, 2015, Philippe Couillard, Premier of Québec, will continue the series by leading a frank discussion on Plan Nord, an ambitious project for the development of infrastructure in his region of governance.
And if you haven’t already picked up a copy of the Summer issue of World Policy Journal, go online now. We explore “Climate’s Cliff”—from the debate over nuclear energy in Germany to the environmental cost of the Nicaragua Canal to the dangers of China’s smoke-smothered skies.
Fellow Updates
Alon Ben-Meir, in an interview with RT Television, responds to the recent RAND estimate of the total financial cost of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, claiming that a peaceful two-state solution would lead to economic growth for the entire region.
Michelle Fanzo, in her article for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, discusses the consequences of humans’ diminishing sense of empathy in the age of interconnectivity.
Lawrence Gutman argues, in an article for The Cuban Reset, that the partisan Cold War era positions that continue to inspire many activists and officials have become increasingly outdated and incompatible with the predominant Cuban perspective.
Swadesh Rana has just been commissioned to write a think piece on “India's Doctrinal Resilience and Strategic Autonomy" for a special issue of Strategic Analyses.
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[Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Heather Dowd]