Don’t worry about Cuba’s shamtastic elections — focus instead on Castro’s reforms

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Cuba — the Caribbean’s most populous nation with over 11 million people — is holding parliamentary elections this Sunday. But those elections are so stage-managed by the Cuban government that they make the recent troubling Jordanian elections look like best practices in liberal democracy. As a technical matter, Cuban voters will elect all 612 members [...]

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Clarke’s pro-Europe tone highlights referendum risk to UK Tories from the center

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Longtime senior Conservative Party grandee — and former chancellor of the exchequer — Kenneth Clarke (pictured above) in no uncertain terms yesterday said that a British exit from the European Union would be a disaster. That Clarke is pro-Europe is certainly not a surprise. As former prime minister John Major’s chancellor from 1993 until the fall [...]

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First Past the Post: January 31

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Kevin Lees

East and South Asia Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will determine his government’s stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before summer upper-house elections. Taking a closer look at South Korean president-elect Park Guen-hye’s prime ministerial blunder. North America Calculated Risk on why the United States should not be too worried about its apparent 0.1% contraction in 4Q [...]

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What comes next for Jordan after loyalists win rigged, boycotted elections

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Kevin Lees

The Jordan Times actually has a non-ironic headline for a story that reads: ‘Jordan biggest winner in elections — King.’ I mistook it initially as reading that Jordan’s king was the biggest winner in the Jordanian elections, which would have probably been a more accurate headline, given that last week’s elections were certainly a ‘win’ in the [...]

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First Past the Post: January 30

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Kevin Lees

East and South Asia The influence of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thai government. Mongolia is booming. A profile of Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen. Japan’s budget as an economics lesson. Approval for the new Japanese government’s record budget. The ongoing smog crisis in China. The new prime minister-designate in South Korea withdraws. North America [...]

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First Past the Post: January 29

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Kevin Lees

A very abbreviated version today, due to travel. Queen Beatrix announced her plan to abdicate in favor of her son Willem-Alexander, who will be the first king of The Netherlands since 1890. Populism and nationalism in the Czech election. The French have retaken Timbuktu on behalf of Mali’s government. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez writes us [...]

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From Heath to Wilson to Thatcher to Cameron: continuity in EU-UK relations

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Kevin Lees

My friend and colleague, Dr. Michael J. Geary, and I, are in The National Interest today with a even-further revised piece on the history of relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union (pictured above are former prime ministers Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher). In particular, we continue to argue that British participation in the [...]

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First Past the Post: January 28

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Kevin Lees

East and South Asia Would China block Korean re-unification? Democracy in Pakistan. A month in, support for Japan’s new government is on the rise, actually, at 66.7%. North America Kathleen Wynne was elected the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party on Saturday night, making her the next Ontario premier and the first LGBT premier in Canadian history. [...]

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Fear and loathing in Las Vegas

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Hello from Las Vegas (and, well, from the Grand Canyon). Posting will be light Monday, in all likelihood, given that I’ll be coming back from Nevada for 10 hours on Monday, and won’t get back to Washington until late. I’m eager to share some thoughts on the ongoing Israeli government-building process, the Jordanian election ‘results,’ and [...]

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Wynne set to become highest-ranking LGBT official in Canadian history

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Ontario MPP Kathleen Wynne last night upended former Ontario MPP Sandra Pupatello to become the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party — and, accordingly, soon to become the next premier of the most populous Canadian province. Pupatello, who was a slight favorite headed into the party convention, led on the first two ballots before Wynne [...]

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Why Miloš Zeman won the Czech presidency

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Czech voters returned to the polls yesterday and today for the runoff in the Czech Republic’s first direct election for president. Former social democratic prime minister Miloš Zeman has defeated the current more conservative foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg by a margin of around 54.8% to just 45.2% for Schwarzenberg. Schwarzenberg emerged as a surprise challenger to [...]

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Europe concedes Cyprus default less than a month before presidential election

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Felix Salmon has a tantalizing tidbit about Olli Rehn, European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, apparently conceding that a Cypriot default is now virtually inevitable, less than a month before the Cypriot presidential election: EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn went on the record telling him that Cyprus is going to have to restructure its debt [...]

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Taking a deeper look at Cameron’s EU speech and UK relations with Europe

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Over at EurActiv, Dr. Michael J. Geary, a friend and colleague at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and I have written a piece placing UK prime minister David Cameron’s speech from Wednesday in greater context in respect of existing European Union structures and the longstanding 40-year history of the United Kingdom’s tumultuous relationship with [...]

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First Past the Post: January 24-25

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Kevin Lees

East and South Asia A closer look at Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, a rising star in Indonesian politics. Kim Yong-jun was named prime minister-designate by South Korean president-elect Park Guen-hye. PML-F politician Pir Pagara may become Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister. Japan’s trade deficit climbs to its highest level since 1980. North America U.S. vice president Joe Biden is [...]

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Cameron pledges 2017 EU referendum: ‘It is time for the British people to have their say’

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Kevin Lees

UK prime minister David Cameron, calling the democratic legitimacy of the European Union ‘wafer thin,’ has this morning pledged to renegotiate a new settlement with the European Union for the United Kingdom, and then a straight in-or-out referendum within the United Kingdom by 2017. Well, then.  Today’s address was probably the most important speech of [...]

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