World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has died.  During his three terms as President (although, technically he was never inaugurated after his last electoral victory), he was an outspoken opponent of the United States and its role in world affairs.  He had the support of a large part of the Venezuelan population due to his very deliberate attempts to redistribute the country’s oil wealth to poorer sectors.  But he was vilified by those who felt that his economic policies were undermining the productivity of the economy and that his politics were distinctly non-democratic.  His legacy will be debated for a very long time.  Here is a You Tube video of Chavez’s speech to the United Nations in 2006 when he attacked President George W. Bush, calling him, “the devil.”

North Korea has threatened to end the cease-fire with South Korea signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953 (the two sides have never signed a peace treaty officially ending the war).  The threat was made in response to a new round of sanctions against the North Korean nuclear program and the scheduled military exercises between South Korea and the United States.  The key player in this most recent round of threats and counterthreats is China which has officially signaled that it is willing to entertain a new round of sanctions.  Nonetheless, we don’t have a good sense of how far the Chinese are willing to push their ally.

A number of questions have been raised about the recent Presidential election in Kenya and those questions are leading many to question the overall legitimacy of the election.  Such doubts could inspire some sectors of the Kenyan population to protest the presumed outcome of the election which at this time seems to favor the election of Uhuru Kenyatta.  We will have to see if there are violent protests as a result.

For those of you who have a specific interest in strategic matters, the recent report of the US Defense Science Defense Board on the susceptibility of the US to cyber warfare is extraordinarily blunt.  It raises the issue of “existential cyber attack,” a term I have not seen before.  It basically refers to an attack that brings the US economy to a complete stop.  Not recommended reading for those who wish a good night’s sleep.