Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Israel are reshaping the Middle East in a possible, bigger deal involving a peace deal in Ukraine. With the regional militias and Syria out of the strategic equation, is the next step removing the Tehran regime?
Tag: referendum
France’s presidential regime epitomize a Caesar-like power, endlessly replaying the missed encounter between “a man and a people.” Macron should end those powers to allow the emergence of parliamentary coalitions and to rediscover the democratic virtues of deliberation in France.
In matters of foreign policy, whether the war in Ukraine or in Gaza, the rejection of extremes should appear as an obvious fact of reason and ethics. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Venezuela and its neighbors are nervously waiting to see if President Maduro and his clique will soon hold a fair election, or cling onto power, fueling more despair and unleashing yet another migratory wave over the region.
The so-called referendums that have been going on for the past five days in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine have come to an end. With all votes reportedly counted, the results show exactly the kind of majority in favor of joining Russia that has prompted many to consider the referendums a “sham” that violated international law. […]
Russia’s neighbors — from Finland in the west to Mongolia 3,100 miles (5,076 km) to the east — are being flooded with the arrival of men fleeing the national draft announced last week as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine falters. Some 2,000 miles to the south of Helsinki, at the border with Georgia, there are reports […]
Russia’s proxies in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions announced that referendums on joining Russia had begun that Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced as shams. [shortcode-Subscribe-to-Ukraine-daily-box] For four days, “voting” will be held at people’s homes “for security reasons,” Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti wrote. On the last day of the “referendums,” on […]
An overwhelming majority of Chileans quietly but very clearly voted to reject a draft constitution, which it feared would lock the country into a radical socialist mould.
Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll! Featuring, this week: Greece […]
In the cradle of the Arab Spring, democracy is once again at stake.
Ukrainian officials say a fleet of Russian ships has been forced more than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian coast, which could be used to alleviate the economic pressure of the Russian blockade.
The social explosion of 2019, a referendum the following year, and last month’s ‘mega election’ have pushed the country in a whole new direction. But is there any method to the madness?
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Evo Morales Has Only Himself To Blame
The leftist leader had some worthy accomplishments during his long tenure as Bolivian president. But his quest for indefinite leadership cost him in the end.
-OpEd- PARIS — In the sometimes cacophonous concert of demands from France’s “yellow vests’ protest movement, one measure keeps coming back: the Référendum d’initiative citoyenne (RIC), or “Citizens’ Initiative Referendum,” which allows individual citizens to submit a legislative text to a popular vote, and to thus express their opinions in the ballot box rather than […]
Bolivia’s beaming president, as pictured (right) on Wednesday’s front page of Tarija-based daily El País, has good reason to smile: He’s just been cleared to seek reelection indefinitely. Evo Morales, 58, was first elected in 2005 following a period of upheaval that saw four presidents come and go in less than five years. Once in […]
-Analysis- PARIS — The Catalan flag fluttered alongside the European flag and its 12 stars on Oct. 27, when Catalonia declared its independence from Spain. But Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, didn’t appreciate this tribute to Europe. “We shouldn’t insert ourselves into what is an internal debate for Spain,” he warned. “I […]
While the world is focused on Catalan and Kurdish movements for nationhood, Taiwan lives in the shadow of both mainland China and its own political contradictions.
The northern Italian region of Veneto will hold a referendum on gaining greater autonomy from the central government in Rome — but not all its citizens are aware.
You shouldn’t play with fire, with the deepest feelings of a people. That counts for Catalonia, but also for smaller battles of belonging, like those in Swiss cantons.
-Analysis- The fraught drama of politics landing in the arena of sports has popped up recently in several different places around the world. It also happens to date back (at least) as far as Ancient Rome, as historian Sarah Bond recently explained in Forbes. In the U.S., the NFL is currently roiling in controversy over […]
It is the great challenge (and paradox) of our time: Far from erasing identity claims, globalization reinforces them. From Spain to Myanmar to Trump’s America, it must be confronted head-on.
Historically for Madrid, there is no such thing as delicate diplomacy. But that approach has boomeranged in the face of the Catalan push for independence.
-Analysis- Is there ever a good time to hold an independence referendum? Of course the answer to that question, from Kurdistan to Catalonia, depends on whom you ask. For those looking to declare a new nation based on ethnic, economic or political claims, there’s no time like the present to take destiny into your own […]
STUTTGART — Such are the consequences of a long-distance relationship. Two-thirds of Germans of Turkish descent voted in favor of a reform of the Turkish constitution to give more powers to the presidency. That support helped lead to victory President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a man who does not shy away from drawing Nazi comparisons. What […]
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — The April 16 referendum result that gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers can be summed up in a single sentence: he won on paper but lost the political battle. The followers of the “chief” — a term used by Erdogan’s loyalists to describe the Turkish president — would consider this […]
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his constitutional reform referendum are victims of a massive movement of popular discontent, now more global than ever.
La Repubblica — December 5, 2016 Italy’s resounding rejection of a nationwide referendum on constitutional reforms Sunday is the latest sign of political discontent, following the Brexit vote and the victory of Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. In this case, it has cost the job of Matteo Renzi, who three years ago became the […]
We can be judged by our own strength, but also by the relative strength of our adversaries. Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election was also the defeat of Hillary Clinton, and all of what she represented. Last night’s unprecedented announcement that embattled French President Francois Hollande would not seek a second term will no […]
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On This Day – October 30
Momentous national referendums in Colombia and Britain have shown how dangerous it can be to put complicated decisions in the hands of a fickle populous.
-OpEd- BOGOTÁ — Colombians have now had their say, voting Sunday to reject the peace deal signed between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), intended to end more than 50 years of fighting in the country. The No vote triumphed against all odds it seems, against […]
-Analysis- PARIS — Call it the “glorieuse incertitude du sport” — the glorious uncertainty of sports. During the finals of soccer’s just completed 2016 European Championship, Portugal saw its singular star Ronaldo taken out of the game after an injury, but won anyway against a favored host French team that had overcome its eternal nemesis, […]
PARIS — The two French visitors just couldn’t get over it. “Why were you wrong again?” the elderly English lady asked them with a severe, inquisitive tone. The woman, Queen Elizabeth II, should have had other things on her mind. It was April 21, 2026, after all, her 100th birthday, and the whole planet seemed […]
A decade ago, the “Polish plumber” became the symbol of British fears of immigrants coming in poorer Europe Union countries. After the UK’s referendum to pull out of the EU, uncertainty reigns for all.
“This has implications for absolutely everything,” political editor for BBC News Laura Kuenssberg declared of the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union. And now that Brexit camp has won, and the UK prepares to bid farewell to the EU, the parties and the gawkers have begun to gauge the fallout of ending the 43-year-long […]
SPOTLIGHT: BREXIT WINS, CAMERON’S BAD BET No one ever forced David Cameron to call the referendum to decide whether the UK should stay in the European Union or not. But the British Prime Minister’s calculation was clear: Popular sentiment against the EU (particularly among his fellow Conservative Party members) was strong enough to make a […]
-Essay- BERLIN — “No other place recalls so vividly the fragility of democracy in Europe in the 20th century.” On the streets of Berlin, passersby may notice this line etched on a building plaque in German, French and English. It can be found in the finance ministry complex that used to house Nazi Germany’s Ministry […]
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Maduro Pushes Venezuela To The Brink
With his recent “state of emergency” declaration and decision to put the army on high alert against the threat of hostile “interventions,” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues to show that he has no intention of being either pushed or voted out of power. Since opposition parties won a parliamentary majority in December, Maduro and his […]
PANAMA PAPERS, THE CHINESE CONNECTION The latest revelations to emerge from the Panama Papers focus on the family members of top China Communist Party members, including the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping, Bo Xilai’s wife and a distant relative of Mao Zedong. According to The Guardian, these relatives are part of China’s “red nobility,” “whose […]