News - Institute of Current World Affairs

Foreign Policy: Karina Piser on Marine Le Pen’s Plan

Posted on October 25, 2019 (December 21, 2019) by ICWA

France’s far right party, the National Rally, has turned its attention to aggressively campaigning in local elections, Karina Piser (France, 2017-2019) reports for Foreign Policy.
“As the National Rally seeks to shed its image as a political pariah and settle into the mainstream, municipal elections have emerged as an indispensable strategy,” she writes. “Although the strategy has yet to translate into national gains, the party has decided that chipping away at local offices will be critical to its long-term success.” […]

Globe and Mail: Neri Zilber on Israel after Netanyahu

Posted on October 24, 2019 (November 20, 2019) by ICWA

The Israeli prime minister’s recent loss in the polls on top of his criminal indictments on corruption charges could mark a new chapter in Israeli politics, former ICWA fellow Neri Zilber (Israel, 2011-2013) writes in an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail.

“It’s all a major comedown for a leader who has, in the later stages of his reign, given new meaning to the term l’état c’est moi,” he writes. “In addition to the premiership, Mr. Netanyahu has been defense minister, too, and holds three other ministry positions as well. The cabinet has been a rubber stamp for decisions he concludes beforehand with his security chiefs.”

[…]

NPR: Neri Zilber on Netanyahu’s possible successor

Posted on October 22, 2019 (October 22, 2019) by ICWA

Former ICWA fellow Neri Zilber (Israel, 2011-2013) joins NPR’s Here & Now to discuss how a new Israeli government might look after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition, clearing the way for his rival Benny Gantz to try. Link to Here & Now interview here. Image credits here. […]

AfD lays claim to East German identity

Posted on October 22, 2019 (October 30, 2019) by Emily Schultheis

On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany’s populist far-right party promises disaffected voters in the east a new ‘Peaceful Revolution.’ […]

Lebanon in uncharted territory

Posted on October 22, 2019 (October 31, 2019) by David Kenner

It’s far from clear how the government can square the need for economic austerity with protesters’ steadily mounting demands. […]

Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow publish new book

Posted on October 21, 2019 (October 21, 2019) by ICWA

We just published a new book, Charging Ahead: Hydro-Quebec and the Future of Electricity. The book has an interesting story: when we started working on it in 2018, we thought we’d be writing a history of Hydro-Québec. But the plan quickly changed when we realized the future of Hydro-Québec was more interesting — much more interesting. […]

Present at the creation: William Eddy and the US-Saudi alliance

Posted on October 18, 2019 (October 31, 2019) by David Kenner

In a remote cemetery in Lebanon, the grave of the man who forged one of the 20th century’s central relationships prompts questions about its limits. […]

THE CABLE PODCAST: Anti-Semitism on the rise

Posted on October 16, 2019 (October 22, 2019) by ICWA

A discussion with Andrew Baker, Stacy Burdett and Susan Corke. […]

AFP: Robbie Corey-Boulet on violence in southern Ethiopia

Posted on October 16, 2019 (October 16, 2019) by ICWA

Ethiopian security forces have embarked on a campaign of forced disarmament that regional leaders and witnesses say has been accompanied by the shooting of civilians, mass detentions and beatings, former ICWA fellow Robbie Corey-Boulet (Ivory Coast and Cameroon, 2013-2015) reports for Agence France Presse. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed—this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate—is facing a […]

The American Prospect: Jonathan Guyer on the Democrats’ worldview

Posted on October 15, 2019 (January 6, 2020) by ICWA

ICWA former fellow Jonathan Guyer (Egypt, 2015-2017) discusses the main presidential candidates’ views on foreign affairs. Read the full article here. Image credits here. […]