Brazil government coalition risks unraveling

Significance On her return from the United States and Russia, President Dilma Rousseff's problems have not changed; indeed, most worsened during her absence. Brazil's economic outlook is bleaker, the governing political coalition weaker and the scope of the corruption scandal has widened. Impacts Congress will push back more strongly against spending cuts as the government's situation weakens. The PMDB as a whole is unlikely to follow Cunha's lead, at least in the short term. Lula's fate will have major longer-term implications for the future of the PT.

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 46-82
Author(s):  
Fathi Malkawi

This paper addresses some of the Muslim community’s concerns regarding its children’s education and reflects upon how education has shaped the position of other communities in American history. It argues that the future of Muslim education will be influenced directly by the present realities and future trends within American education in general, and, more importantly, by the well-calculated and informed short-term and long-term decisions and future plans taken by the Muslim community. The paper identifies some areas in which a wellestablished knowledge base is critical to making decisions, and calls for serious research to be undertaken to furnish this base.


Significance The Vietnam analogy implies that President Joe Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan will have deeply negative consequences for the United States. However, Afghanistan is not Vietnam and the Biden withdrawal needs to be considered within the wider context of his administration’s review of US commitments abroad. Impacts The White House will be pressured to clarify the future of other US military commitments, particularly in Iraq. Biden will seek to reassure allies, particularly those in NATO, that his commitment to multilateralism will not diminish. Biden may seek an opportunity for a military show of force, possibly in the Middle East, to refute accusations of weakness.


Subject Public-private partnerships. Significance Amid attempts to secure new investment from Canada and the United States, the government is wrestling with political difficulties surrounding the future of public-private partnerships (PPPs). These have been magnified in recent months by the bad publicity arising from the Odebrecht bribery scandals. Establishing a politically acceptable balance between attracting investors and ensuring the transparency of public works contracts is proving increasingly important. Impacts The problem of corruption in sub-national government will cloud the operations of PPPs. There will be a need for stronger and more independent regulation of PPP projects. The localised reach of the Works for Taxes programme will limit its scope in dealing with wider objectives.


Subject Hypersonic missiles and their implications. Significance Russia and China claim to have hypersonic weapons with near-global reach, capable of delivering nuclear warheads with certainty and overcoming US anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defences designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The implication is that both countries are ahead of the United States in the technology race. Impacts Hypersonic technology poses a new challenge just as the future of the New START arms treaty is due for renewal in 2021. While the Kremlin highlights future hypersonic weapons, broader procurement of new defence systems is lagging. US and Chinese designers are investigating potentially cheaper methods of accelerating artillery shells to hypersonic velocities.


Significance Pragmatism will be to the forefront in the early implementation of the Phase One trade agreement between the two countries that came into effect in mid-February. At the same time, the hard line is more prominent in the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail China’s telecoms giants, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation. Impacts The mistrust between the United States and China during the pandemic will discourage cooperation in other spheres. China’s drive to reshape the institutional architecture of global governance and to be self-sufficient in technology will continue. Despite disliking multilateralism, Trump will engage with multilateral bodies to curb China’s efforts to reshape global governance. Any US-EU trade agreement could seek to limit China exploiting additional fraying of US-EU relations caused by the pandemic.


Subject Profile of Ko Wen-je. Significance There are strong indications that Ko Wen-je, the independent mayor of Taipei, will run for election as Taiwan’s president in January 2020. Presidential hopefuls often launch their election campaigns with US trips to shore up relations with Washington, Taiwan’s key security backer; Ko will make a nine-day visit to the United States later this month. He also stated last month that he was considering forming a new political party; the single reason he would need a party of his own would be to make a run for the presidency. Impacts Ko would be a controversial and probably one-term president. Ko could have a game-changing impact in the short term but is unlikely to alter Taiwan's political landscape fundamentally in the long term. Ko would likely take a more moderate stance on China than Tsai does. Ko's outspokenness is what makes him popular, but it also makes him prone to gaffes that could ultimately undermine him.


Significance Canada has a temporary exemption, but Trump is calling for North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations to be completed speedily. The NAFTA and tariffs issues have, therefore, become fused, raising questions about the outlook for Canada-US foreign relations. Impacts In the short term, Canadian steel companies may benefit from reduced foreign providers’ presence in the United States. Canada’s NAFTA negotiators will not respond to the Trump team’s threat to impose tariffs. Canadian businesses will begin to migrate south to take advantage of the new and more competitive US tax regime. Canada’s efforts to diversify its foreign trade and decrease US dependence will further accelerate, but still face hurdles.


Subject China-Japan relations. Significance Recent developments suggest that the troubled relationship between China and Japan may be improving. Both sides appear willing to establish a measure of rapprochement and restart economic cooperation. Impacts Both governments see the Trump administration's unclear and inconsistent approach to Asia as an opportunity to exercise regional leadership. If Beijing can force Pyongyang to cease behaviour that threatens Japan, this would improve its relations with Tokyo significantly. Japan's outreach to China will be more than balanced by its cooperation with the United States, India and Australia.


Significance They joined a public statement warning the government against undermining a landmark international agreement governing the strategic Turkish Straits. The government’s condemnation of the statement as a veiled coup suggests President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fragile alliance with the military’s ‘Eurasianist’ wing has ended, and shows his aversion to criticism as he sets out to redefine Turkey’s international commitments. Impacts The falling out with the Eurasianists will not fundamentally alter Turkey’s relations with Russia or China in the short term. The reaction may facilitate Erdogan’s efforts to improve ties with the United States under the Biden administration. Ankara’s ties with Russia would be severely tested if Erdogan were eventually to pull Turkey out of the Montreux convention.


Author(s):  
Erik Voeten

This concluding chapter addresses how the distributive ideological framework helps one think through questions regarding the future of the Western liberal order. The potential demise of the Western liberal institutional order preoccupies scholars of international institutions. The concerns are twofold. First, nonliberal and/or non-Western states are becoming more powerful and are attempting to change existing institutions and create institutions that better fit their interests and worldviews. Second, populist and antiglobalization movements challenge the commitment of democratically elected Western governments to the liberal international order, most notably the United States. The chapter then contends that a world that moves away from multilateralism would be a world preoccupied with short-term coalitions and conflicts rather than long-term alliances and institutions.


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