World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

On 11 December the Press Office of the US President sent a memo entitled “Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate” which informs the US Congress that the US is conducting combat operations in the following countries:  Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, East Africa, Libya, Lake Chad Basin and Sahel Region, Cuba (the detention center at Guantanamo Bay), the Philippines, Egypt, and Kosovo.  The purpose of this letter was to conform with the War Powers Act which was passed by Congress in 1973 because of concerns over the legal authority of the US war in Vietnam.  The basis for these combat operations was the “Authorization to Use Military Force” (AUMF) which was passed by the Congress in  2001 and 2002 in response to the attacks on the US on 11 September 2001.  Given the list of countries in the President’s Memo to Congress, many have wondered if the original intent of the AUMF has been lost and that to justify these additional operations a new AUMF should be passed.

British Prime Minister suffered a serious loss in the House of Commons which voted to assure that Parliament would have a final vote on the British exit from the European Union.  Twelve members of May’s Conservative Party voted in favor of the measure against the wishes of the Government.  The outcome of the vote suggests that a majority in the House of Commons favors a “soft” Brexit.  The current deadline for Brexit to be completed is March 2019, so there is a strong possibility of further maneuvering, but Prime Minister’s political weakness was made glaringly apparent in the vote.

The House of Commons for the Vote

As both increase their power, India and China have begun a robust, but indirect, competition in South and Central Asia.  There have been sporadic direct confrontations along their contested borders, but the competition has been largely economic.  But the economic investments demonstrate a keen understanding of strategic alliances which have penetrated virtually every country in the region.  The key players in the competition are India, China, Iran, and Pakistan, with both Russia and the US pushed off into the sidelines.  The future of world politics will likely revolve around these four countries.