WorldcrunchPierre Haski was born in 1953 in Tunis. He has been a correspondant for Agence France Presse (AFP) and Libération, and is now the President of Reporter Sans Frontières since 2017. He also runs the radio show “Géopolitique” for France Inter.
The current unprecedented political crises in France and the United States — two very different systems and political cultures — have points in common, notably that partisan issues are still taking precedence over the need to rethink the democratic system and its practices.
In its final communiqué of the Washington summit, NATO severely criticized Chinese support for Russia in Ukraine, drawing a strong reaction from Beijing. China fears that the Transatlantic military alliance is now a tool for the U.S. in its global showdown with China.
An Israeli missile struck children playing soccer in a schoolyard a day after international outrage at Russia’s bombing of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital. As the Israel-Hamas war drags on, ceasefire negotiations get harder as the rest of the world looks away.
As the alliance’s 32 countries celebrate their 75th anniversary at a summit in Washington, uncertainties over the possible reelection of Donald Trump in November, and dark clouds over Europe and France are raising serious questions about NATO’s future.
After more than two years of war, Russia’s bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday was among the most violent. What does Vladimir Putin aim to achieve with this escalation of horror — which came just 48 hours before the NATO Summit in Washington in the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky?
In the second round of elections, France’s far-right National Rally failed to secure a victory. But in a largely unnoticed revelation, the party announced that they are teaming up with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the European level. Thus the French far-right joins a plan to weaken the European Union from within.
The landslide victory of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom is first and foremost a stinging defeat for the Conservatives, who are paying for their Brexit lies over the past eight years. An estimated 65% of Britons now believe that Brexit was a mistake. This offers lessons for other European countries.
China appears well positioned to continue its rise amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise of the far right, and the emergence of the Global South. The world order of 1945 has run its course, and it is through crises and tensions that the next one — still uncertain — is taking shape.
The result of the French elections, along with doubts about U.S. President Joe Biden’s health, weakens Western support for Ukraine. A poll of Europeans shows support for Ukraine continues to be strong, but that Europeans no longer believe a military victory against Russia is possible.
The Albanian writer has died at the age of 88, after a life challenging, and occasionally acquiescing, the whims of the regime.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban officially announced the creation of a new group in the European Parliament, the “Patriots for Europe” to gather extremist parties that have been sidelined by the establishment. It can also be a bridge to Trump and Putin.
France’s European partners fear the outcome of the upcoming snap legislative elections and its consequences for the EU. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the victory of a party “other than Marine Le Pen’s,” a sign of this growing concern.
The left-leaning Labour party in the UK appears to be headed for a big win next week, while far-right forces may take control of the French Parliament in their coinciding national elections. But it may be that France is just eight years behind Britain, which voted for Brexit in 2015, and now regrets that populist choice.
Russia announced a ban on 81 European media — in retaliation to the EU’s ban of Russian state media. The move is indicative of the prevailing Cold War climate, which limits the exchange of information between hostile worlds.
Jordan Bardella may become the first far-right prime minister in France since World War II. Is this good news for Vladimir Putin?
More than 1,300 people have died on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It’s not just a personal tragedy for Muslim worshippers, it’s a warning from mother nature.
The Israeli army’s spokesman said that those talking about eradicating Hamas are “throwing sand in the eyes” of the Israeli public. It was a clear challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu, who counterattacked even as he remains under fire from all sides.
The Sierra Madre, a World War II cargo ship grounded 300 kilometers off The Philippine coast, was involved in an incident between the Philippine and Chinese navies on Monday. It’s the focus of a tug-of-war between Beijing and Manila, against the backdrop of the U.S.-China Cold War.
A chapter of history is closing: that of the active French military presence on the African continent, which will soon be reduced to a bare minimum after being a central element of France’s presence in its former colonial empire.
Mediation efforts are ongoing to halt the escalation between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which could degenerate into all-out war at any moment. But diplomacy seems powerless in the face of the logic of war.
There is a striking paradox: the European elections, which were expected to cause a seismic shift, ended in relative continuity in most places. The crisis erupted where it was least expected: in France, snap elections could have serious consequences in the whole of Europe.
As the upcoming French and American elections show, the Western democratic model is being put into question — both externally by revisionist powers, and internally.
The G7 countries meeting in Italy are examining a proposed $50 billion loan to Ukraine, a way of preempting possible future obstacles: Trump in the U.S. and the far-right in France. The wildcard is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve Parliament and call special elections caught his international partners by surprise. The stakes are high, especially for Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz has refused to dissolve Germany’s parliament, even though his coalition suffered a major defeat at the European elections. The Chancellor’s weakened position comes at a bad time for Europe, where the union’s other major power, France, is also in a fragile state.
There’s the risk both for over and underestimating the unprecedented gains of far-right parties in the European elections.
French Mirage jets and training of pilots on Ukrainian soil: these two announcements by Emmanuel Macron last night, as his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky was in France for the June 6 ceremonies, mark an increased commitment — to help Ukraine restore the balance of power.
Participants in the D-Day commemorations will issue a new transatlantic declaration reaffirming common values. The risk is that they will try to save the West — rather than try to reinvent a world with greater fairness and economic equity.
In his latest film, Cambodian-born filmmaker Rithy Panh examines the Khmer Rouge regime’s manipulation of foreign opinion. A universal and highly topical lesson on how to distance oneself from ideologies and their illusions.
Two weeks ahead of the Ukraine conference in Switzerland, Volodymyr Zelensky blamed China for sabotaging the meeting at Russia’s behest. Urkaine’s president may use the upcoming D-Day memorial to raise the stakes with his own allies.
The U.S. president’s plan has been approved in principle by Hamas and the Israeli prime minister, but significant contradictions remain. In Israel, opposition voices are increasing, and the survival of Netanyahu’s government is at stake.
Eight months into the Israel-Hamas war, Israel has lost the battle of world public opinion. This may seem unfair to Israelis, but the right to self-defense does not authorize anyone to disregard international humanitarian law. And undermining these legitimate international bodies will only cause wider chaos.
The Israeli Prime Minister appeared on French television to try to convince European audiences of his war aims. But his main weakness is his lack of vision for the “aftermath”: he has nothing to offer the Palestinians.
As South Africa goes to the polls, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress party is facing disillusionment among its voters, and risks losing its absolute majority in parliament. Corruption, crime and persistent social inequality are at the root of this disenchantment — and the memory of the liberation struggle is fading.
Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “tragic accident” after the deadly bombing of a camp for displaced Palestinians near Rafah; but this rare act of contrition does not mean the Israeli leader has changed his strategy, despite the indignation of the rest of the world at the number of civilians killed.
Russia is on the offensive, bombing the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv almost every day. Visiting the city over the weekend, President Zelensky again called for stronger, faster Western aid.
An international police operation of African and Caribbean officers is set to begin in Haiti to help local police overwhelmed by armed gangs. It’s a mission with a historic backstory, but this force may be inadequate to deal with the scale of the problem.
The announcement of the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor that he would seek arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, as well as three Hamas leaders, provoked indignant reactions in Israel and the U.S. and revealed the rifts between the West and the global South.
The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash comes in an already tense context, five weeks after Iran’s confrontation with Israel. The consequences are heavy, both in terms of regional and domestic conflicts.
Paris has accused Azerbaijan of meddling in the unrest in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. But in this new hybrid war of influence, external actors don’t create problems, they amplify them.