World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has won his third term.  Correa is a populist, lefty leader who has made a point of trying to appeal to the indigenous populations of Ecuador.  His admirers point to dramatic drops in the poverty rate during his tenure, while his critics point to a stifling of basic freedoms.  Correa has close ties to Chavez in Venezuela and Castro in Cuba, and has tried to organize opposition to US influence in Latin America.

Pakistan has handed control of its strategic port at Gwadar to China, raising concerns in India about Chinese naval encirclement.  The port has been largely built by the Chinese, but getting control is a big step forward for Chinese interests.  The Chinese have been following a “strong of pearls” policy, building ports all along the Indian Ocean in order to safeguard the sea routes for Chinese trade.  but India cannot help but view the policy as a strategic concern.

The global economic slowdown has finally had a salutary effect:  sales of arms have dropped by 5 percent since last year.  The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) does an annual study of arms sales, and the end of the war in Iraq and the drawdown in Afghanistan were largely responsible for the decline.  But it does also appear as if there is less interest in weapons trades because of the economic situation.