WPR Articles Aug. 22 — Aug. 26

As President, Clinton Would Face Hard Choices About U.N. Peacekeeping

By: Richard Gowan | Column

If Hillary Clinton is elected president of the United States, fixing the failings of United Nations peacekeeping operations is unlikely to be one of her foreign policy priorities. But the next administration is likely to find that crises involving blue helmets have a habit of creeping up its agenda.

Nepal Faces More Political Bickering and Power Grabs Under Dahal

By: Anuradha Sharma | Briefing

Earlier this month, Nepal’s parliament elected Pushpa Kamal Dahal as its new prime minister. The former Maoist guerrilla leader first held the country’s top job in 2008. Dahal is unlikely to bring political stability to a country still reeling from the 2015 earthquake and an ongoing fight over a new constitution.

Africa’s Next President for Life? Bongo Eyes Another Election Win in Gabon

By: Alex Thurston | Briefing

Small, oil-rich Gabon will vote for president on Aug. 27. A victory for incumbent Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose father was president of Gabon for more than 40 years, would reinforce patterns of dynastic succession in small African countries that are ostensibly democracies, but in reality autocracies.

Short-Lived Syria Bombing Run Exposes Iran and Russia’s Awkward Partnership

By: Frida Ghitis | Column

When Russia announced last week that it had started launching bombing raids into Syria from a base inside Iran, the news produced a remarkable reaction, simultaneously angering both the United States and much of Iran. The episode highlighted just how complex and fragile new Russia-Iran ties are.

Will Ghani and Abdullah’s Rivalry Bring Down Afghanistan’s Unity Government?

By: Colin Cookman | Briefing

With the two-year anniversary of Afghanistan’s national unity government approaching in September, long-simmering tensions between President Ashraf Ghani and the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, have broken out into the open. A complicated power-sharing game shows little sign of being resolved soon.