Archive
The Energy Briefing: AMLO’s nationalist agenda clouds future for Mexico’s energy sector
Leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s victory casts a shadow over the future of Mexico’s ongoing energy reform. Will the country’s new preident find the right balance between pragmatism and ideology?
Serbian visas as diplomacy
Serbia has ensured that its passport holders have visa-free access to a wide range of countries, from Belarus to Indonesia. Many new visa waiver agreements have been signed in the past 5 years, but the most recent agreement, with Iran, was cancelled after one year alone. The failure of the Iran agreement highlights the unique role that visas play in Serbian diplomacy.
The threat to Russia from Islamic State returnees
The threat posed by Russian speaking fighters who travelled to fight under the Islamic State in Syria presents a complicated problem for both Russia and its allies to address. Just like its Western counterparts, Russia is worried that these returnees will mount deadly attacks on the country’s soil.
Nikol Pashinyan and the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Earlier in 2018, Nikol Pashinyan made a historic entrance into the helm of Armenian politics after Serzh Sargsyan resigned in the face of large protests. While Pashinyan is making continued efforts to improve Armenia’s image abroad, an important question remains about his leadership towards the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.
Bolivia losing in the ICJ: a drastic turn for the January 2019 elections
Bolivia’s blowing defeat in the ICJ’s Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v. Chile) case, delivered on October 1st, may cost President Evo Morales’ his presidency.
The Orthodox schism: religion as a political instrument
On 15th October, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it had severed ties to the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the Patriarch declared that he would grant the Ukrainian Orthodox Church autocephaly, meaning independence from the Russian Church. Until this declaration, the only Orthodox Church in Ukraine that was officially recognized by other Patriarchates was administered from Moscow. While this may seem at first glance to be primarily a religious matter, it is in fact deeply political in nature.
