To Nominate or Not to Nominate — Britain vs. the EU

When Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European Commission, first announced her list of proposed commissioners in September, it did not include a British commissioner. She and her commission were scheduled to take office on November 1st, and the UK was scheduled to officially leave the EU on October 31st, so it didn’t seem necessary to appoint a British commissioner who would never serve.

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Trump’s “Amazing Deal-Making Skills” Tested in East Africa

The White House announced that on November 6, U.S. President Donald Trump had held diplomatic consultations with foreign ministers and other senior officials from Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The meeting was reportedly mainly focused on resolving the dispute over a new dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River.

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To Solve Bad Lending, India’s Banks Need to Privatise

At the start of the 20th Century, China and India were in the same economic positions: both nations have their own share of troubles trying to boost their respective national GDPs whilst trying to build a more robust system of accountability for their banks. The majority of banks in both nations are largely owned by the state.

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Franco-German Tensions in the EU

In July of this year, Ursula von der Leyen became the first woman nominated to the presidency of the European Commission. On November 1st, she and all her newly-confirmed commissioners were to officially take office and become the new European Commission.

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Ecuador’s Fuel Crisis Resolved After Violent Protests

In early October, Ecuador’s capital, Quito, saw several protestors take to the streets after President Lenin Moreno ended a fuel subsidy for the country’s oil production. Back in March, the government of Ecuador met with the International Monetary Fund to create a $4.2 billion financing agreement which included cutting the four-decade long fuel subsidy.

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What is Happening With the Kurds in the Middle East Right Now?

Last week Turkey launched a large scale military assault against a Syrian militia largely comprised of Kurdish fighters. The attack comes only days after President Donald Trump announced the retreat of U.S. troops from northeast Syria, where U.S. backed-Kurdish forces were instrumental in the defeat of the Islamic State and the further containment of IS fighters. Some call the retreat and subsequent indifference to Turkey’s attack from the largely Kurdish region an outright betrayal of the Kurds.

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A Bad Week in Paris

At three o’clock in the afternoon, on the last day of September, a whole country stood in silence. Jacques Chirac was the President of France from 1995 to 2007, and before that served as the Prime Minister of France, the Mayor of Paris, the Minister of the Interior, and in several other prominent political posts.

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