The 2024 US elections were unique. From the last minute candidacy of Kamala Harris through the assassination attempt of Donald Trump to the sheer amount of money involved -- over US$ 15 billion -- events moved at an amazing speed, resulting in an unexpected definitive win for Trump and the Republican Party. Understanding what truly happened and capturing the real atmosphere across the U.S. may still be challenging, but necessary. To do this, Ilana Bet-El welcomes Elena Schneider, National...

Election results should never be a foregone conclusion, and democratic upsets are a healthy feature of the system. Nonetheless, when the incumbent pro-Russian governing party in Georgia declared itself the winner of national elections on 26 October, with some 54% of the vote, there was a massive outcry: polls had predicted a win for the opposition. This is a huge setback for the cause of democracy in the state — and the region, given that just a week earlier, a referendum on European...

The speed of events in the disaster zone that is currently the Middle East is unrelenting. Just as attention was focused on Lebanon and refocused on Gaza, Israel announced the death of Yahiya Sinwar, head of Hamas and architect of the attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. Across the West, and possibly beyond, this development was viewed with relief - if only because it may allow for a hostage deal to finally occur. But in Iran, the death called for the mourning of a Martyr. This is not by...

The constant escalation in the Middle East shows no signs of abating. October 7 marks a year since Hamas viciously invaded southern Israel, while October 8 is a year since Hezbollah started firing rockets into the north of Israel in support of Hamas. A year of unspeakable violence in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon, rounded off by Iran firing some 200 ballistic missiles into Israel this week. A year of deaths and destruction for Palestinians, Israelis and Lebanese people. In this unique episode...

Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is in its third year, with no end in sight. The Russian offensive in the East of Ukraine grinds on, consuming a mass of men and materiel on both sides while its conquest proceeds in tiny paces. The only surprise of the past few months was the Ukrainian incursion into Russia, taking a small square of the Kursk region. It is no minor achievement, not least given that Russia has not been invaded since WWII, and that the Kursk region is where the biggest tank...

Summer used to be a period of quiet. The sun shone — or not — and holidays were taken, events slowed to a nearly non-existent pace, and newsrooms had to deal with what was known as the “silly season”. No longer. Whether because events really have become more dramatic or whether because we know about them immediately due to the constant digital connections, this past summer was an example of constant and rapid events: From the assassination attempt on Donald Trump to the sudden rise of Kamala...

We know some of you have been wondering where we've been. Rest assured, Women Leaders will be back very soon. Get ready for more extraordinary conversations with inspiring women experts this September. Stay tuned! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 2024 may end up being remembered for various reasons, such as wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza or the launch of the Arianne 6 rocket by the European Space Agency or the floods in Western Europe and the extreme heat in the eastern Mediterranean, all caused by climate change. At this point however, these are the backdrop to another set of events: elections and summits. In this year of elections around the globe it is perhaps unsurprising that two polls happened suddenly: in both the UK and...

The focus on the defence aspects of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine often draws attention from the economic war taking place in parallel. Every few weeks the US or the EU drop another packet of sanctions on Russia, in attempts to hinder its capacity to pursue the war — and in absolute lockstep a wave of analyses, data and disinformation will appear, largely rubbishing the sanctions and their effects. In this way the EU this week dropped its 14th round of sanctions, and Russia...

Between June 6th and 9th, 27 member states held elections for the European Union’s parliament with over 300 million eligible voters. However only 51% voted, an unsurprising figure as democratic participation declines across the West. Equally unsurprising were the results of the vote, which, as always, resulted in the two major centrist blocs, the European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats, maintaining their majority, with some support from the Green and Liberal...

The third year of a war often suggests two harsh realities: that the war is, by definition, long; and that it is not over — or rather, that it is in the middle. Think 1917 in World War I or 1942 in World War II. Ukraine is in year three of defending itself against the full-scale Russian invasion that started in February 2022. It fended off the Russian forces at the start, but since then the war has been quite static with each side achieving small victories at huge expense. For Russia, this is...

In a year of big elections, in which approximately half the global population is going to the polls at one time or another, the EU elections stand out: upwards of 300 million eligible voters out of a population of nearly 450 million people across 27 states. A transnational bonanza of democracy that will take place between 6-9 June. 720 seats are up for grabs in the European Parliament, and once the results and balance of power in that institution are decided, the composition of the European...

In our world of disruption, Georgia has suddenly emerged as another centre of protest and imbalance: on Wednesday, 1 May, the Georgian parliament voted positively on controversial new legislation that would brand Western-funded NGOs as foreign agents. In response, the streets of Georgia, notably the capital Tbilisi, erupted into protest: not only is the legislation deemed objectionable, it is also a clear threat to Georgia’s EU aspirations. In December last year the European Union announced...

The 7 October attack changed the Middle East and world. The brutality of Hamas attack and the overwhelming response of Israel made nonsense of many assumptions about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and about relations between Israel and the Arab worlds, relations within the Arab and Muslim worlds, between Israel and many other parts of the world. Six months into the war, escalation has become the key word, with each event of destruction assumed to be the worst until the next one comes along. A...

The 31 March local elections in Turkey were a great surprise. Pre election polling suggested the AKP party of President Erdogan was on course to win, but instead the main opposition CHP party swept up an impressive number of cities and towns, notably the ten major cities of the country, which collectively represent over 74% of the National GDP. This is a massive shift in the country's political landscape, signalling a potential call for deep change. Put another way: has Turkey reached a...

2024 has already been defined as the year of elections: from Russia through the EU to the US, autocracies, dictatorships and democracies, billions of people are going to the polls. And one of the biggest upcoming elections is due in India: with 968 million registered voters, 15 million elections officials and 1.2 million polling booths, it will be the largest exercise in logistics and democracy the world has ever seen. But there are problems — in India, and many other democracies. Dr. Radha...

Women Leaders is back! The podcast that showcases women experts is with you again, in a new home at ELN, European Leaders Network. To mark the move, and International Women’s Day (IWD), we welcome back Rose Gottemoeller, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, to discuss the state of the world. From Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine to the disrupted Middle East, from Russian autocracy to US politics, this is the grand sweep of global geopolitics. The (dire) state of democracy,...

Get ready for us on IDW 2024! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.