Kenya’s public protests and deadly violence over proposed tax increases this week highlight some of the country’s most serious challenges: high youth unemployment, deepening poverty and the glaring gap between living conditions for the country’s elite and its urban poor. This social crisis is exacerbated by severe corruption, a stifling foreign debt and a too-violent response by Kenyan police, who have a poor record in handling large demonstrations. Steps to calm this crisis are vital to preserve Kenya’s overall stability, its role as an East African trade hub — and its capacity to serve as a leader for peace, which the United States increasing has relied upon in Africa and elsewhere.

Type: Analysis

Economics;  Global Policy

Despite a three-year long cease-fire along their contested border, trade and civil society engagement between India and Pakistan has dwindled, exacerbating the fragility of their relationship. With recently re-elected governments now in place in both countries, there is a window of opportunity to rekindle trade to bolster their fragile peace, support economic stability in Pakistan, create large markets and high-quality jobs on both sides, and open doors for diplomatic engagement that could eventually lead to progress on more contentious issues.

Type: Analysis

Economics

El 2 de junio, los mexicanos eligieron a la ex alcaldesa de la Ciudad de México y candidata del partido gobernante, Claudia Sheinbaum, como su próxima presidenta. Con un mandato electoral contundente, así como con una mayoría calificada en el Congreso, Sheinbaum ha prometido continuar el proyecto de la “Cuarta Transformación” de su predecesor, enfocado en reducir la pobreza, combatir la corrupción, promover la justicia social y lograr una distribución equitativa del ingreso bajo un estado fortalecido. En medio de esta mezcla de continuidad y cambio, Estados Unidos podría tener una oportunidad para reconstruir la deteriorada cooperación entre ambos países en materia de seguridad y reducción de la violencia, una de las prioridades de Sheinbaum y algo que será imposible de lograr sin una estrecha cooperación con Estados Unidos.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Global Elections & Conflict

Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah are at their highest point since their 2006 war. They have exchanged tit-for-tat attacks since October, displacing tens of thousands from northern Israel and southern Lebanon. But in recent weeks, both sides have escalated the violence and rhetoric. USIP’s Mona Yacoubian looks at what’s driving this escalation, what each side is trying to tell the other and the diplomatic efforts underway to lower the temperature.

Type: Question and Answer

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Potential areas of cooperation between the Taliban and the international community, such as private sector development and alternative livelihoods to now-banned opium poppy cultivation, will be on the agenda at a meeting of international envoys for Afghanistan hosted by the United Nations in Doha from June 30 to July 1. Discussions on women’s rights are not included, as the Taliban consider it an internal matter. This is ironic, given that the private sector is one area where the Taliban allow limited women’s participation.

Type: Analysis

Economics;  Gender