As Colombia approaches presidential elections next year, the US decision to decertify the country in the war on drugs plays into the hands of its allies on the political right, writes NICK MacWILLIAM
Why is western democracy faltering?
Many Western countries are grappling with deep political instability. What are the causes of this, and what could be a possible way forward? asks MARC VANDEPITTE
AUF WIEDERSEHEN NEOLIBERALISMUS? AfD election poster ‘Time for Alice Weidel, time to be proud again,’ right, in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday
The move against alleged PKK members that sparked outrage as a community centre in north London was raided last year has now come to trial, writes TONY BURKE, but in the meantime, the peace process abroad has changed the situation almost entirely
A new report points a way to overcome complacent framing of climate issues, ‘by sparking a wider public reckoning with climate realities,’ and reconnecting with working-class people. IAN SINCLAIR reports
We cannot understand today’s world without understanding the rise of China – and we cannot understand China without understanding how it was shaped by the second world war, writes JENNY CLEGG
NICK WRIGHT reports from Italy, where 80 cities saw Gaza strikes as unions paralysed transport and massive crowds clashed with police in Milan — but France is also kicking off, and Westminster, in a very different way, is facing a crisis of legitimacy too
Escalating anti-China rhetoric from the West has a clear purpose – to manufacture consent for the new cold war, and potentially a hot one, argues CARLOS MARTINEZ
THE German and French governments have fallen, and in South Korea, there has been a coup. The G7 countries, the club of major industrialised nations in particular are struggling with numerous internal political problems.
In France, the government fell in December 2024 after failing to pass a budget. Although a new prime minister has been appointed, the issues persist, and some observers speculate that President Emmanuel Macron will step down before the end of his term in 2027.
In Germany, the government has been virtually rudderless over the past year. In December, Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light coalition” finally collapsed, paving the way for new elections.
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KEVIN OVENDEN cautions against a simplistic ridiculing of Trump, Musk or Farage as any such laughter might turn out to be at our expense
As heavy industry flees and public-sector strikes paralyse the nation, the French leader’s increasingly desperate attempts to rule without a majority reveal the deep crisis at the heart of European liberal democracy, writes KEVIN OVENDEN