WPR Daily Review.

"The dying norm of territorial expansion."

Views expressed in this geopolitical news and analysis are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 11 April 2025, 2025 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).

 

View this email in your browser. April 11, 2025 Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering Israel-U.N. relations and the dying norm against territorial conquest. But first, we have something a little different for you today. U.S. President Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again tariffs have completely dominated news headlines in recent days, and even before that the unpredictable but hyperactive foreign policy of his new administration has understandably received very heavy coverage everywhere, including here at WPR. In our coverage of the new administration, we strive to go beyond a U.S.- and Western-centric perspective to bring you insights into how Trump’s conduct of U.S. foreign policy will affect the world on its own terms. But we are also committed to covering important issues and regions outside of any connection to U.S. foreign policy, including stories and countries that aren’t getting the attention they deserve elsewhere. So today, as an antidote to Trump news overload, we thought we’d bring you highlights of our recent coverage that is mostly unrelated to Trump and U.S. foreign policy. Here is a rundown of some of this coverage from the past month: Global The World Could Use a Crimes Against Humanity Treaty, by Charli Carpenter. The West Will Need the Global South to Build the Post-American Order, by Nathalie Tocci. Guterres’ Successor Will Take Over a U.N. in Crisis Mode, by Richard Gowan. Latin America After Pension Reforms, Mulino’s Next Hurdle Is the Cobre Panama Mine, by Cristina Guevara. In Mexico, the Push for a National Care System Is Gaining Momentum, by Carin Zissis. Uruguay’s Orsi Faces Pitfalls at Home and Challenges Abroad, by Laurence Blair. Europe The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy Has Created a Farming Crisis, by John Boyce. Germany Just Opened the Taps to Jumpstart Its Military and Economy, by Aaron Allen. Serbia’s Student-Led Protests Have Vucic Cornered, by Stefan Antić. Africa The African Union Is Giving Djibouti’s Diplomatic Model a Try, by Afolabi Adekaiyaoja. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray Are Back on a War Footing, by Fred Harter. Chakwera Has Wasted Malawi’s Democratic Breakthrough, by R. Maxwell Bone. Middle East and North Africa MBS’ Domestic Agenda Is Also Driving Saudi Arabia’s Diplomatic Blitz, by Jon Hoffman. Keeping Syria’s Transition Peaceful Just Got a Lot More Complicated, by Francisco Serrano. Turkey and Russia Will Remain ‘Frenemies’ in Syria, by Giorgio Cafiero. Asia-Pacific France’s Reset With New Caledonia Could Hit Some Roadblocks, by Catherine Wilson. For Xi, Boosting China’s Domestic Consumption Means Working Harder, by Mary Gallagher. Indonesia’s Prabowo Is Stumbling Out of the Gate, by Joshua Kurlantzick and Abigail McGowan. These are just some of the most important things happening around the world other than Trump. You can find all of our coverage here. When the phrase “rules-based order” is invoked, it is intended to describe the organization of the international system since World War II, a system marked by the presence of international institutions such as the United Nations that seek to organize relations between states enough to, at the very least, avoid another world war. But invoking the phrase can also induce eye rolls, largely because the ostensible protector of that order—the United States—is selective in supporting the rules it is ostensibly based on. But one rule in that order appeared to hold firm over the past 80 years, if not earlier: the norm against coercive territorial acquisition. It is arguably the foundational principle of the existing international order, as it ensures that the global map does not devolve into a free-for-all of states helping themselves to their neighbors’ land. But this foundational principle now appears to be threatened, Paul Poast writes. The Norm Against Territorial Conquest Is in Its Death Throes By Paul Poast The norm against territorial conquest has underpinned the post-World War II rules-based order. But it now seems to be weakening. ***** Among the fallout from Hamas’ attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza has been an unprecedented deterioration in relations between Israel and the United Nations. Truth be told, relations between the two have hardly ever been good. But that characterization glosses over what has been an incredibly complex engagement by the U.N. with Israel and its neighbors over the past 75 years. Now, amid the most violent episode in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, there is a sense that the U.N. is increasingly hamstrung both by the ongoing fighting as well as a pervasive lack of trust among Israeli authorities. Jonathan Lincoln looks at how this happened and what role we can expect for the U.N. and its agencies moving forward Despite Their Deteriorated Relations, Israel Still Needs the U.N. By Jonathan Lincoln Israel still relies rather heavily on the U.N. with regard to the provision of assistance in Gaza and the West Bank. The original “Your Take” question for this week was quickly overtaken by events on Wednesday afternoon when U.S. President Donald Trump paused many of his sweeping tariffs for 90 days. So yesterday we posed a new, narrower question. Trump’s 90-day pause applied to all of the 57 countries he had targeted for tariffs in his April 2 announcement, except China. Indeed, Trump increased the tariff on Chinese imports to the U.S. to 125 percent after Beijing increased its retaliatory levies on U.S. imports to 84 percent. This week, we asked: Will Trump similarly reverse course on the tariffs on Chinese imports? The results: 66% said “Yes, as soon as he can claim something as a ‘win’.” 33% said “No, the two economies are headed for decoupling.” The People’s Liberation Army’s second-in-command, Gen. He Weidong, has been removed from his command as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. It is the first firing of a general in his position in 60 years. This purge may appear at first to be a discretely Chinese story. But as Paul Poast wrote in September 2023, there have been a series of crises in civil-military relations affecting world powers, including in the United States. This spate of crises are ultimately a product of the pressure created by competition between great powers and the reshuffling of their places in the global order. The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations Is Going Global By Paul Poast A civil-military relations crisis in the U.S. is actually the latest in a recent series of similar crises affecting the world’s major powers, including Russia and China. That raises theu0026hellip; ***** Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was arrested at a public rally Wednesday and charged with treason yesterday, after calling for electoral reforms before general elections scheduled in October. The reforms have been a long-standing opposition demand since President Samia Suluhu Hassan succeeded former President John Magufuli after his death in office in 2021. Since then, Samia has implemented a series of domestic political reforms and reversed several of Magufuli’s retrograde policies, while consolidating power at home and winning plaudits abroad. But as Nicodemus Minde wrote in 2023, while Samia’s reform agenda has been a welcome transformation after the years of Magufuli’s slide into authoritarianism, for now it has yet to be institutionalized. To Restore Tanzania’s Democracy, Samia Must Solidify Her Reforms By Nicodemus Minde In the two years she has been in power, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has implemented a series of domestic political reforms, while consolidating her power base within the rulingu0026hellip; ***** Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa granted the request of a committee investigating the massacre of hundreds of ethnic Alawites last month for more time to carry out its work. As Francisco Serrano reported from Damascus last month, the fallout from the killings is a significant threat to Syria’s political transition. ***** Argentina and China extended their bilateral currency swap agreement for another year, allowing Argentina to access another $5 billion in yuan, providing Argentine President Javier Milei with some extra firepower as he gets ready to relax capital controls on the Argentine peso. As WPR columnist James Bosworth wrote last month, China’s engagement with Milei, who was antagonistic to Beijing before taking office and is one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies in the region, is yet another example of how China is not backing down in the face of Trump’s pressure campaign against it. ***** Election Preview: Gabon goes to the polls tomorrow for the country's first election since a coup toppled longtime former President Ali Bongo in August 2023. Chris Olaoluwa Ògúnmọ́dẹdé wrote about what’s at stake late last month: Gabon’s First Post-Coup Election Is No Break From the Past More from WPR Alana Moceri on the far right’s appeal to Spain’s youth. Hilary Matfess on how gender inequality affects disaster planning and recovery. Jonathan Fenton-Harvey on India’s broadening Middle East ties. Charli Carpenter on why the “Signalgate” group chat may be evidence of a war crime. Read all of our latest coverage here. Copyright © 2025 World Politics Review LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to our free daily newsletter. Our mailing address is: World Politics Review LLC 401 E. Jackson St, Ste 3300 Tampa, FL 33606 USA To be sure this email isn't filtered as spam, add newsletter@worldpoliticsreview.com to your address book or contacts list. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or opt out of all WPR emails (not recommended).