Western democratic powers are no longer the main external shapers of political transitions around the world. There is now a new global market for political change in which various states, including many non-democratic and non-Western democracies, are influencing the transition process. Western politicians and aid workers have been slow to accept the realities and implications of this new situation. Given this situation, it is not surprising that public support for fundamental changes in our political system is very high to make the system work better. There is no party of the status quo in America today: both sides want change, but they disagree on the direction of change. Unfortunately, about 6 in 10 Americans do not believe the system can change.6 And because it has not changed despite growing dysfunction, polarization has led to a legislative stalemate, which has led to growing support for unfettered executive action to realize the will of the people. Iran shares with the United States and other Western actors an aversion to Taliban influence in Afghanistan and wants long-term stability for its neighbor. But strategic competition with the United States and unease over the presence of foreign troops near its soil have led Iran to provide limited support to Taliban elements.35 Iran`s seemingly contradictory actions in this regard have also been shaped by a strategy to diversify its portfolio of relations in Afghanistan in order to maintain its political and economic position in a post-NATO order there. receive.
The simple fact is that it is difficult to plan and invest for the future in volatile and volatile circumstances. The United States is not exempt from the calculation of political risk analysis, although we are not in the habit of applying it to our own country. Investors have a fiduciary duty that depends on their understanding and attempt to manage systemic risk. According to a recent report, « decisions made by trustees ripple through the investment chain, influencing decision-making processes, ownership practices and, ultimately, how companies are run. » 35 For example, the Kremlin was deeply involved in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election campaign to secure the victory of the most pro-Russian candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, over the more pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko. Russia has not only contributed to Yanukovych`s campaign, which various analysts have estimated at tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. He also played a direct role in the development and implementation of Yanukovych`s electoral strategy. [40] Moscow sought to support Yanukovych when his regime faltered in late 2013 by offering new injections of aid and possibly helping the Ukrainian president crack down on protesters. [41] And then, stunned by the collapse of the Yanukovych government in early 2014, Russia took a series of vigorous measures to undermine the pro-Western government of President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. who came to power after the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections. Their efforts included significant support for the pro-Russian armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Russia has long sought to influence the domestic political life of the Republic of Moldova in favor of forces that support a pro-Russian foreign stance. Since the early 1990s, Russia has used the breakaway region of Transnistria – which depends on a Russian military presence to preserve its de facto independence – as leverage to influence Moldova`s domestic and foreign policy.44 Russia stepped up its activities in 2014 when it tried to dissuade Moldova from deciding to sign an association agreement with the European Union.
The Kremlin has used a variety of means, including provocations on the border with Transnistria, efforts to make it more difficult to sell Moldovan wines in Russia, internal attacks on Moldovan banks to divert money to Russia, and threats regarding the status of Moldovan guest workers in Russia. [45] In comparing the methods of different categories of actors in the global market for political change, it should be noted that there is an asymmetry between a country`s overall power and its ability to influence a particular political context. Child labour and women`s rights. The National Committee on Child Labour is coordinating a movement to combat the exploitation of children. One of the most effective weapons in their campaign was Lewis Hine`s photos showing eight-year-old boys and girls working with dangerous equipment in coal mines and factories. By 1910, many states had passed laws setting the legal age for children to work (between 12 and 16 years) and the maximum length of a working day or week. However, it is not clear what has had a greater impact on child labour – these laws or compulsory state schooling, which at the same time has become more widespread. Many different states outside and inside Africa have tried to influence political outcomes in politically changing African countries. The United States and Europe engage widely through diplomatic work, economic and political aid, and military assistance. The diverse and often conflicting interests that drive U.S.
and European policies toward sub-Saharan Africa in general—countering violent radical Islam, accessing vital energy resources, contributing to poverty reduction, and promoting democracy—drive their engagement in African contexts of political change. For example, French and U.S. military aid to Mali to defeat the uprising that toppled the government in 2012 was primarily motivated by counterterrorism concerns, though it was also linked to support for democracy. The same goes for U.S. efforts to combat the militant group Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Where counter-terrorism concerns are less present, softer Western interests in promoting democracy and supporting development come to the fore. This is the case, for example, with Western efforts to help stabilize Madagascar after its 2009 coup. and European diplomatic efforts to resolve disputed elections in Côte d`Ivoire in 2010, as well as Western assistance and diplomatic support to the government of Sierra Leone after the end of the country`s civil war in 2002.
Former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tweeted that the political farce in the United States offers plenty of food for thought and that there is no perfect democracy, especially when it comes to its practices. Beijing is bringing thousands of African officials and politicians to China for training on development methods, focusing on China`s top-down, authoritarian-led model of development. [18] These programs may be in part a long-term attempt to influence the political thinking and behavior of African leaders, and thus, over time, the political course of African states. However, its main objective seems to be to build personal relationships and contacts that can facilitate economically useful relations with governments of all political characteristics on the continent. A period of transformed transition. Despite the general global democratic stagnation since 2000, the era of widespread political change at the national level that characterized the 1980s and 1990s is not over. His character has simply evolved. It no longer has a global dependence on leadership, as countries move away from democracy as often as they move closer to it or enter a civil war as well as out of it. Since the Bill of Rights was passed in 1791, Congress has passed only 23 additional constitutional amendments, and states have ratified only 17. In addition, many changes in the U.S. political and legal system are the result of judicial interpretation of existing laws rather than the addition of new laws by the legislature.
Backflow is a by-product. As competition for influence expands and intensifies, a growing number of countries are fighting back, not only against Western powers, but against all states seeking cross-border political influence. Transnational evidence from the World Bank and Freedom House supports Henderson`s claim,31 as well as the pioneering work of Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson on the relationship between economic prosperity and political accountability.32 Sarah Repucci, vice president of research and analysis at Freedom House, writes: « Political repression and security crises associated with authoritarian rule often crowd out companies and place employees. Supply chains and risky investments, as well as legal and reputational concerns of foreign companies that continue to be involved. 33 This underlines that it is in the interest of the investment community to actively reduce efforts to weaken or dismantle those democratic systems. The nature of checks and balances ensures the stability of a free market and ensures that free and engaged citizenship provides the most stabilizing market forces. « A more democratic world would be a more stable and welcoming place for established democracies to trade and invest. » 34 Many of the governments that participate in such resistance are undemocratic, for whom such actions are part of a broader repression of civil and political space. But some are democratic or semi-democratic, such as Bolivia, India and Nicaragua, which offer an important space for independent civic activity, but have developed a particular sensitivity to certain types of external engagement with national civil and political actors.