World Politics Review
World Politics Review provides uncompromising analysis of critical global trends and international affairs to give policymakers, businesspeople and academics the context they need to have the confidence they want.
Featured Writers
Luke Taylor
Freelance journalist covering Colombia, Venezuela and wider Latin America from Bogotá, Colombia.Reports on global health for the British Medical Journal and life sciences and the environment — particularly the Amazon …
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Juliette Bretan
Juliette Bretan is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Cambridge.In her freelance work, she has written regularly for Notes from Poland and Culture.pl, and been published in …
View PortfolioKaterina Barton
FREELANCE JOURNALIST. INVESTIGATING AND WRITING ON UNDERREPORTED STORIES.
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Jeevan Ravindran
I am an award-winning freelance journalist based in London, working predominantly with Reuters and CNN on the digital news and video production desks. My areas of particular interest are Latin …
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A Colombian Drug Lord’s Victims Protest His Extradition to the U.S.
Victims argue that the paramilitary leader should face justice in Colombia before being extradited to the U. S. on drug charges.
The Middle East Looks to Innovate Its Way Out of a Water Crisis
Water, an essential resource to sustain human life, not to mention agriculture and many other economic activities, has long been in short supply across the Middle East—the driest region in the world. But now, population growth, rapid urbanization, economic development and climate change are putting new pressure on the water …
‘The Deaths Can’t Be Erased’: Tamils and the Fight for Justice in Sri Lanka
On a snowy afternoon in January, 24-year-old Thanujan Sellathurai delivered a speech in front of a small crowd of protesters from the Tamil community in Geneva. He called for the United Nations, which has several of its agencies headquartered there, to condemn the “brutal atrocity” that had just taken place …
In Poland, Anti-LGBT Sentiment Is Isolating Its Small Towns
A thousand miles separate the quaint French commune of Saint-Jean-de-Braye, in the central Loiret region, from the rural Polish town of Tuchow, east of Krakow. But for 20 years, they could have easily been next-door neighbors.
Will Colombia’s Duque Be the Next to Stumble Over Mass Protests?
Demonstrators have taken to the streets over the past three weeks in a series of massive antigovernment rallies in Colombia, making it the latest Latin American country to be convulsed by protests. While the ongoing unrest has not yet reached the scale of other recent crises elsewhere in the region, …
Politically Deadlocked Bosnia Takes ‘One Step Forward and Two Steps Back’
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s unique and often unstable tripartite presidency missed its deadline to form part of its national government in early September, almost a year after general elections, amid continued disagreements on whether to proceed with long-in-the-works plans to join NATO. With its leaders deadlocked, the country’s path toward both …
Cutting U.S. Aid to Central America Is No Way to Address Immigration
President Donald Trump announced late last month that he is cutting off $450 million in U.S. aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, delivering on a previous threat amid news that another migrant caravan was forming in Central America. The move has drawn significant criticism, even from within Trump’s administration. …
Latin America’s ‘Double Burden’ of Malnutrition: Rising Obesity and Undernourishment
Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on food security around the world. Over the past 30 years, as economies in the region developed and democratic gains were made, Latin America has undeniably seen major progress in the fight against hunger. Since 2000, the number of Latin …
Just Months Into His Second Stint as President, Chile’s Pinera Is Already Stumbling
Last week, Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera, was at the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump. During a photo-op in the oval office, Pinera held up a printout of the American flag. Outlining one white star and a pair of red and white stripes, he had managed to …
Venezuela’s Neighbors Scramble to Cope With the Region’s Worst Refugee Crisis
The exodus of refugees and migrants fleeing Venezuela—a crisis that has largely been undercovered—appears to be reaching a breaking point, as leaders across Latin America scramble to deal with the growing number of Venezuelans arriving at their borders each day. Representatives of 13 Latin American nations met in Quito, Ecuador, …
How Macri Is Trying to Keep Pace With Argentina’s Women’s Rights Movement
On June 13, members of the lower house of Argentina’s Congress held an all-night debate on a decisive bill that would legalize voluntary abortion through the first 14 weeks of a pregnancy. Over 11 hours into the debate, lawmaker Fernando Iglesias held up a world map color-coded with each country’s …
Paraguay’s New Pro-Business President Cements Latin America’s Shift to the Right
On Sunday, Paraguayans picked a new president and vice president, along with every member in their country’s Congress. There was a lot at stake, starting with the credibility of the voting itself. Paraguay was mired in political turmoil last year after Congress considered expanding presidential term limits—a move that worried …
Will Venezuela’s Latest Fraudulent Election Spur the European Union to Act?
After months of delays, polling booths finally opened in Venezuela last Sunday for gubernatorial elections in each of the country’s 23 states. Accusations of fraud have already marred the results, as candidates backed by President Nicolas Maduro and his regime won an overwhelming majority of seats despite poor polling numbers …
Has Venezuela’s Opposition Lost Sight of What It Is Fighting For?
The United States issued a new batch of sanctions against Venezuela last Friday, targeting high-ranking members of President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and setting up a “financial blockade” against the state-owned institutions that fund them. Cutting off Maduro’s revenue may be the key to his ouster, U.S. officials have said, but …
Cocaine Production Is Spiking in Peru and Bolivia, and It Could Keep Going Up
The international fight against drug trafficking continues to go poorly in South America’s Andean region, and signs suggest it won’t be improving anytime soon. New figures released this month by the United States show that Peru and Bolivia have stalled, if not taken steps backward, in their attempts to eradicate …
'Who Isn't Involved?': How Corruption Fuels Cocaine Trafficking in Bolivia
On a Thursday evening this past February, two Bolivian men met at a public plaza in the country’s capital, La Paz, to discuss a major cocaine sale. Though they had been texting back and forth all week, each was wary of the other. One of the men, Luis, was an …
Guatemala’s Assault on an Anti-Corruption Commission Evokes the Country’s Dark Past
For many Guatemalans, the government's recent actions hark back to the country's 36-year armed conflict that ended just 22 years ago.
Will Duque Maintain Santos’ Other Legacy in Colombia—the Economic Recovery?
A day before Nicolas Maduro accused Juan Manuel Santos and the “Bogota oligarchy” of orchestrating an audacious attempt on his life with explosive-equipped drones earlier this month, Colombia’s outgoing president reminded his Venezuelan counterpart of the reality that divides their two nations. “Eight years ago we agreed with Chavez and …
Doctors Take a Leading Role in Protests to End 50 Years of Family Rule in Togo
A pediatric inpatient ward in the Sylvanus Olimpio University Teaching Hospital of Lome, the capital of Togo, sat vacant for much of February. The water had stopped running, and staff were short several supplies: a pair of scissors, a rolling cart, a blood pressure cuff to fit children’s arms.
Colombia’s Presidential Election Is Turning the Page on the FARC Peace Deal
In the first round of Colombia’s presidential election on May 27, Gustavo Petro, the ex-mayor of Bogota, won 25 percent of the votes cast, setting the stage for him to face off against Ivan Duque, a senator and former official of the Inter-American Development Bank who secured 39 percent. Their …
The Odebrecht Corruption Scandal Is Already Shaking Up Colombia’s Presidential Vote
BOGOTA, Colombia—It was one of the biggest corporate corruption scandals in history, and its web of connections still hasn’t been fully untangled across Latin America. Having paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in political bribes in order to secure lucrative contracts at home and abroad, the Brazilian construction giant …