For decades, Latin America’s authoritarian regimes were seen as a right-wing phenomenon, with Cuba as the lone exception — a dictatorship born not from a betrayal of democracy, but of revolution. As Washington’s embargo returns to the headlines, this piece asks what that framing has long obscured: that Cuba has never had just one embargo, but two.
Analyses
- Seán Golden 20 January 2020As Beijing grows increasingly assertive in world affairs, two peripherical territories expose its legitimacy dilemma. But the Western liberal democratic model is equally in crisis, prof. Seán Golden argues.
- Marina Forti 13 January 2020The extraordinary national unity stemmed by General Soleimani’s assassination has suddenly turned into fresh, heated protests against Teheran’s regime. Will it cope?
- Gianni Del Panta 20 December 2019Among mass protests and low voter turnout rates, Abdelmadjid Tebboune emerges as the new Algerian president. The staggering influence of the generals in politics still makes a democratic transition the least likely scenario for Algeria. The future of this country still remains difficult to predict.
- Maria Tavernini 18 December 2019The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is widely seen as a frontal attack on the secular character of the Indian Constitution, the principle of equality, and it openly discriminates against the Muslim minority. Is India turning into a Hindu’s nationalist state?
- Lorenzo Monfregola 16 December 2019The centrist extremism of Angela Merkel’s reign has reached its end and a new political course will soon emerge in Germany. The country must reach decisive conclusions on topics such as finance, defense, immigration, technological and energy autonomy. What future for the largest economy in Europe?
- Federica Zoja 13 December 2019Two months after the elections in Tunisia, Prime Minister Habib Jemli has to deal with a fragmented parliament. As no party achieved the necessary 109 seats to ensure the absolute majority, the risk of “ungovernability” remains high. An uphill start for the youngest Arab democracy.
- Marina Forti 10 December 2019A wave of violent protests swept through Iran in the second half of November, many witness accounts and even some official statements indicate that it was the largest and most intense protest seen in Iran in the last 40 years. What sparked such protests and how is the government reacting to this wave of discontent?
- Maria Tavernini 25 November 2019A long-awaited verdict by India’s Supreme Court fails to punish the perpetrators of the most dreadful act of sectarian violence in the country. A new worrying page for India’s Muslim minority.
- Moncef Djaziri 22 November 2019Two presidents of the Libyan Central Bank (each one printing its own bills), practically two national oil companies with two distinct policies for the management of oil resources, two governments, and two parliaments. Despite the UN’s efforts, the contending Libyan parties have no yeat reached an accord, isn’t the road of dialogue and diplomacy leading to a stalemate?
- Riccardo Cristiano 19 November 2019Riccardo Cristiano interviews for Reset DOC political scientist Cengiz Aktar on the Turkish nationalist-authoritarian shift. A 360 degrees picture of Turkish society and its relationship with politics, religion and the Kurdish question.