NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Cautious Starts Syrian government forces shook the Islamic State from their last urban foothold in Syria this month – the eastern provincial capital of Deir al-Zour – calling into question what's next for this besieged nation. Some would like to believe Islamic State is on...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW IRELAND Hope, and a Hard Place Ireland's newest prime minister, Leo Varadkar, 38, recently joined the ranks of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron as yet another young leader looking to shake up the status quo. To some, Varadkar symbolizes that Ireland...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW INTERPOL The Long Arm of the Law The International Criminal Police Organization, better known as Interpol, extends the long arm of the law around the globe. But a few recent cases have revealed how dictators might use the organization to lengthen their reach, too. Late last...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW AFRICA Whack-a-Mole Early this month, for the first time ever, the United States launched airstrikes against the Islamic State in Somalia. A few days later, the United Nations issued a report saying that around 200 jihadists had joined the Islamic State in Puntland, a semi-independent region...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ASIA The Forest and Trees As President Donald Trump embarked on his first tour of Asia since taking office, some wondered how the trip would play out. The president's harsh critiques of long-time regional allies, his "America first" reversal of his predecessor's pivot to Asia, his...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW LEBANON A Fragile Mirror The bizarre snap resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri over the weekend has shattered the illusion that regional rivalries were at a stalemate, and left many nervously wondering what's next. "The Middle East is nearing an explosion," wrote the Atlantic Wednesday. That's...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SPAIN Spanish Netherlands It was ironic that Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other officials of the would-be independent republic would flee to Belgium, a country also known as the Spanish Netherlands until around 300 years ago. On Tuesday, a Belgian judge released Puigdemont and ministers in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SAUDI ARABIA A Game of Thrones Saudi police apprehended more than 30 princes, tycoons, clerics and other elites in the past few days, putting some in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh where they are still confined in “opulent digs,” the Guardian reported. King Salman also banned...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW NIGER Diplomats and Bombs The deaths of four Green Berets and five local soldiers in Niger last month have led many to ask why the United States military is operating in a country that many Americans couldn’t find on a map. The simple answer is that...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW HONDURAS A Suicide Mission When activists in Honduras speak up, it's more than an act of bravery. That's because Honduran society is so corrupt that politicians, industry executives and the criminals lining their pockets have no fear of repercussions when they silence protestors by violent means,...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW TANZANIA A Wolf and a Sheep East African leaders have been making headlines as of late – but not the good kind. In Uganda, lawmakers are at odds over a bill that could place President Yoweri Museveni in power for life. Meanwhile, neighboring Kenya is seriously stumbling...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW LAOS Jumping the Gun One of the world's few remaining communist states, Laos is also one of Asia's poorest. It also holds the grotesque distinction of being the most bombed country in history. From 1964 until 1973 – during the height of the Vietnam War –...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW GEORGIA No Pipe Dream A year ago, the Southern Caucasus country of Georgia held what was likely its freest and fairest election, a culmination of a trajectory to democratic maturity that began in 1991 after independence from the Soviet Union and the 2003 Rose Revolution. This...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW PROTESTANT REFORMATION In Praise of Reform Five hundred years ago on Oct. 31, when the rebellious theologian and monk Martin Luther nailed his famed 95 theses against Catholic corruption on the door of a church in Wittenberg, he kicked off a bloody era that culminated...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA The Chairman of Everything In addition to serving as president of China, Xi Jinping holds at least 12 other titles at the top of the country’s power structure, including general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, chairman of the party’s Central Military...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW KENYA A No-win Do-over Kenya is going ahead with its presidential election Thursday. That's the case even though an election official fled the country in fear for her safety – and despite the fact that the incumbent's main challenger has dropped out in protest, and all...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW PHILIPPINES Of Roosters and Corners Once believed to be impervious to the pitfalls of his bombastic rhetoric and controversial policies, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's chickens may be coming home to roost. Since taking power just over a year ago, Duterte has lambasted the democratic norms of...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UGANDA Just a Little Bit Longer Pay attention to what is happening in Uganda as President Yoweri Museveni tries to change his country’s constitution so that he can run for reelection in 2021 – when he will be 78 years old. Authorities have already jailed the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW LATIN AMERICA Tidewaters Socialists rose to power in Latin America in the 1990s and 2000s as the region's economy took off. The phenomenon was called the “pink tide.” Now, that tide might be ebbing. Growth has sputtered throughout Latin America. That’s put pressure on socialist leaders...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CZECH REPUBLIC Bohemian Rhapsody The candidate expected to become the next leader of the Czech Republic is a "polarizing," straight-talking media-mogul and billionaire who vows to drain the swamp, kick out Muslims and run the country like a business, according to the Washington Post. Sound familiar? And...
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