While You Weren't Looking
If history has taught us one thing, it’s that while we’re focused on one crisis, the next is just around the corner. A weekly update on emerging global stories, written by Foreign Policy staff writer Amy Mackinnon. Delivered Monday.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a statement on Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny's case on Sept. 2 in Berlin, Germany. Navalny has been treated in Berlin since Aug. 22. Could Navalny’s Poisoning Spell the End for Nord Stream 2?
Calls grow for Angela Merkel to halt the controversial Russian gas pipeline.
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A nurse talks with mothers in Kaijiado, Kenya on July 11, 2018, after the launch of a five-day polio vaccination campaign in high-risk counties. Africa Is Officially Polio-Free
The continent has largely eradicated wild polio, the crowning achievement of a massive, globally coordinated public health effort.
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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador arrives for a press conference at the presidential hangar of the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City on July 27. Far-Reaching Corruption Probe Could Boost López Obrador’s Faltering Fortunes
Three former presidents have been named in Mexico’s biggest graft investigation in recent history.
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A man walks by the main entrance to the city on March 8, 2018 in Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique. Mozambique’s Growing Insurgency Takes Strategic Port
While the Islamic State-linked militants may not hold on to Mocimboa da Praia, the attack underscores their growing sophistication.
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A man reads a local newspaper covering the results of Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections in Colombo on Aug. 7. The Rajapaksas Win in a Landslide in Sri Lanka
Parliamentary elections on Thursday cemented the family’s hold on power, amid warnings that human rights will suffer as a result.
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Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga holds a placard during an anti-corruption protest march along Borrowdale road, on July 31 in Harare. Zimbabwe Cracks Down on Protests as Economy Crumbles
With inflation running at 700 percent, the pandemic has left an already weak state on the brink.
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People protest at the Main Square in Krakow, Poland, during a rally of solidarity with political prisoners in Belarus on July 3. In Belarus, an Unlikely Trio Challenges Lukashenko
The president’s sixth term in office is all but guaranteed, but an unexpected groundswell of support for the opposition has exposed his unpopularity.
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Two staff members of Doctors Without Borders wear protective masks during an emergency response training. The International Aid Sector Faces a Reckoning
Doctors Without Borders staff are pushing back against institutional racism, reflecting a growing debate in the aid community over the legacies of colonialism.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin shows his passport to an electoral commissioner as he arrives at a Moscow polling station to cast his ballot in a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms on July 1, 2020. Putin’s Russia Gets Voters’ Rubber Stamp
This week’s constitutional referendum gives the long-serving president the veneer of legitimacy needed to hold on to power through 2036.
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A general view shows the Saddle Dam, part of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Guba, Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. The Clock Is Ticking on Ethiopia’s Dam Dispute
Ethiopian officials say they will start filling Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam next month, but they haven’t reached a deal with the countries downstream.
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A fighter loyal to the U.N.-recognized Libyan Government of National Accord prays in an expression of gratitude in the Qasr bin Ghashir district south of Tripoli, Libya, on June 4 after the GNA regained full control of Tripoli from the rival forces of military leader Khalifa Haftar. Russia and Turkey’s Proxy War in Libya Heats Up
The oil-rich African nation is in danger of becoming the next Syria.
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People wave Syrian national flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad during a demonstration against U.S. in Damascus on June 11. Is Syria’s Assad on the Edge?
New U.S. sanctions come into force next week, threatening the country’s fragile economy and dealing a fresh blow to the regime.
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Filipino protesters in protective masks march in protest over the government's new anti-terror law on June 4 in Quezon City, Philippines. New Anti-Terrorism Law Would Enhance Duterte’s Power
In the Philippines, the House of Representatives just passed legislation that will enable a crackdown on government critics.
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Primary school children leave their classrooms in Dori, Burkina Faso, on Feb. 3. 2020. Extremism Is on the Rise in West Africa. Education Is Suffering.
A new report from Burkina Faso shows that rising violence is taking a toll for a generation of children.
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gestures during an exclusive interview with AFP in the capital of Damascus on Feb. 11, 2016. Why Did Assad Just Seize His Cousin’s Assets?
A deepening family rift shows intensifying pressure on the Syrian president.
