El Salvador’s crackdown on gangs has driven criminals to seek more permissible operating environments elsewhere in the region, and could strengthen extortion networks across Central America and Mexico over the coming year, write Erin Drake and Grace McEleny.
So-called ‘construction mafias’ have long held sway over South Africa’s construction industry, often demanding a cut of any development project. Tamsin Hunt looks at how these groups operate, and whether government efforts and other recourse are effective in combatting these groups.
With Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive in southern and eastern Ukraine now under way, pressure will build on Kyiv to demonstrate its forces can make strategic gains and prove to its Western allies that it can win the war. Richard Gardiner discusses the nature of the task at hand, and measures what success and failure would look like for Ukraine.…
Violent protests triggered by the sentencing of opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, in June 2023 have raised concerns over the government’s growing clampdown on opposition, and incumbent President Macky Sall’s ambitions for a controversial third term in office. These factors could exacerbate anti-government sentiment and drive intensified unrest ahead…
Protests against the fossil fuels industry in Europe are becoming more assertive and more frequent, as the appetite for a “fair” energy transition grows. Diana Diaz-Valdes Teran examines some of the protest risks increasingly affecting the sector, including legal action, shareholder activism, and infrastructure sabotage.
Events following Imran Khan’s recent arrest illustrate the former prime minister’s popular appeal and ability to mobilise protest action. Combined with the deepening economic crisis and escalating political tensions ahead of the October elections, Pakistan faces a period of significant instability and rising levels of civil unrest, writes Richard Gardiner.…
While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) electoral success will likely demoralise the opposition in the short term, the president faces several critical challenges as he starts his new term, writes Tamsin Hunt.
Since January this year, workers’ unions, civil society groups, and opposition parties have staged mass countrywide protests to denounce a law set to increase France’s national retirement age. Jervin Naidoo discusses how these demonstrations not only reflect dissatisfaction with the new law, but also speak to a deep-seated discontent with government.…
Regardless of the outcome of the May 2023 elections, the threat of political violence, largely rooted in longstanding tensions between opposing political sides, will persist for the foreseeable future, writes Saif Islam.
The recent kidnapping of four researchers conducting archaeological fieldwork in Papua New Guinea highlights the ongoing security challenges in the country, writes Saif Islam.
Amid an increase in kidnappings in the Oromia Region driven by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), Richard Gardiner analyses the modus operandi of the OLA and who is most at risk.
Attacks on members of the LGBTQIA+ community in Serbia and South Africa in 2023, as well as increasing anti-homosexuality and transgender legislation internationally, have raised fears of an increased targeting of sexual minorities. Jervin Naidoo considers the impact of these incidents on travel security.