Can the Left Look to Portugal for an Alternative to Austerity?

By Asad Ismi While social-democratic parties all over Europe have been losing power and popularity, the centre-left Portuguese government is being lauded even by the mainstream media for defying the European Union (EU) with its anti-austerity policy and thereby sparking an economic recovery in the country. The minority government led by the social-democratic Socialist Party […]

Pakistan’s Government in Military Hands–Again

By Asad Ismi Imran Khan, Pakistan’s leading ex-cricketer, became the country’s prime minister in August after his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or the Pakistan Justice Movement, won an election marred by shocking violence—including two suicide bomb attacks in Balochistan province that killed or injured more than 180 people—and allegations of massive rigging and military […]

Brazil’s Non-Elections: A Crisis of Trust, a Failure of Democracy

By Asad Ismi Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was still, at publishing time, the Workers Party (PT) candidate and frontrunner in Brazilian elections scheduled for October 7. This was despite him being sentenced in July to 12 years in prison for what his allies and vast supporter base (June polls put Lula […]

Careful What You Wish For

Canadian Business Wants a Notch in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In Asia as in Canada, there are Domestic and Foreign Policy Risks to Consider. By Asad Ismi IN MID-JANUARY, AT a forum in Shanghai, the Chinese government presented the latest additions to its global economic strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), […]