Diplomacy & Crisis News

Lee reiterated his vision to restore the country’s democratic system, while also touching on foreign policy issues.

/ Terrorisme, Sahel, Migrations, Violence - Afrique / Terrorisme, Sahel, Migrations, Violence - Afrique

A cultural center in the U.S. state demonstrates how the authority of Tibet’s spiritual leader has gained new forms of strength in exile. 

Chinese investors have been interested in overseas renewable energy for years now. But barriers remain. 

A former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan says that talking with the Taliban is necessary, but cautions that a diplomatic return to Kabul would be a “gift” that shouldn’t be given freely. 

Following similar uprisings in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Nepal’s young protesters have toppled their prime minister, attacked political parties, and triggered an army-backed search for an interim government.

For Afghanistan, the canal is a symbol of sovereignty and hope. For its neighbors, it is a looming ecological and economic crisis.

Three 80th anniversaries are not only linked, but also provide historical backing for China’s policies today.

Moscow's nuclear ambitions in Southeast Asia should strike fear into Myanmar’s neighbors.

A better South Asia policy runs through Islamabad.

El Salvador’s police state will soon face a reckoning.

The two sides have agreed to withdraw heavy weaponry, begin joint de-mining operations, and move toward reopening of trade routes.

Moscow’s centuries-long ambition to dominate the South Caucasus is collapsing. Armenia’s defiance, Azerbaijan’s sharp responses, and the West’s growing involvement have shattered the Kremlin’s “backyard” myth. The region no longer bows to imperial dictates — a new era is unfolding.   Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus is rapidly shrinking. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s open rejection of Moscow’s “divide and rule” policies became a symbolic turning point. Once considered a loyal ally, Yerevan now openly questions the value of its ties with the Kremlin.   Baku and Tbilisi, for their part, had long voiced frustration with Moscow’s imperialist posture. Russia’s tactic of exploiting ethnic divisions to maintain dominance has lost its previous force. Georgia’s experience with Abkhazia and South Ossetia proves that separatism as an instrument of control is unsustainable.   At the funeral of an Azerbaijani soldier who died in the war in Ukraine, the presence of his Armenian comrade and his words to the grieving mother — “From now on, you are also my mother” — struck a deep emotional chord across the region. This humane gesture stood in stark contrast to the hostility cultivated by Moscow and resonated as a powerful call for peace and reconciliation.    In late 2024, a civilian Azerbaijani plane was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S1 missile, killing 38 people. The incident marked a watershed moment in Baku-Moscow relations, with President Aliyev openly threatening international legal action against Russia.    The arrest of Russian citizens, including Sputnik staff, in Azerbaijan further eroded the Kremlin’s image. These developments exposed Moscow’s declining status as an “untouchable” power in the region.   The Washington summit created a framework for Armenian-Azerbaijani understanding and effectively sidelined Russia’s role as mediator. The United States’ assertive diplomacy has accelerated the emergence of a new political order in the South Caucasus, underscoring the collapse of Moscow’s last bastions of influence.   Analysts highlight that a generation has grown up in the South Caucasus independent of Russia. The Russian language and cultural presence are steadily declining in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Instead, ties with the West, Turkey, and regional initiatives are taking precedence.   Moscow is losing its grip on a region it long considered its unquestioned “backyard.” — Armenia is openly resisting. — Azerbaijan is holding the Kremlin accountable through legal and political measures. — Georgia is pursuing its sovereign course. — The United States and other Western actors are shaping a new geopolitical reality.   The South Caucasus is no longer Russia’s domain. A new chapter is being written — one that rises from the ashes of imperial illusions, toward independence and freedom.

At a time of heightened geopolitical tension in the South Caucasus, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian selected Armenia as his first destination. The visit aimed to preserve regional balance, strengthen economic and transport ties, and respond to Western-backed initiatives threatening to sideline Tehran near its northern frontier.   Iran and Armenia share a border and centuries of intertwined history. During his trip, President Pezeshkian referred to Armenia as a “friend and neighbor,” emphasizing that the goal was not only to sign new agreements but also to accelerate the implementation of earlier commitments in economic, cultural, and social fields.   Tehran’s concerns were sharpened by the U.S.-brokered “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), which proposes linking mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave via Armenian territory. Iranian officials viewed this as a plan that could diminish Iran’s regional leverage. Pezeshkian’s visit sent a clear signal that Iran rejects projects undermining its influence in the South Caucasus.   The visit carried a strong economic agenda. Both governments prioritized energy partnerships, trade expansion, and infrastructure development. Multiple agreements were signed covering pipelines, electricity grids, and new transport corridors. The two sides set ambitious trade goals: reaching $1 billion annually in the near term, with plans to expand to $3 billion in the next phase.   The United States has become increasingly active in regional mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. By traveling to Yerevan, Pezeshkian reaffirmed Tehran’s intent to remain a key stakeholder. Consistent with Iran’s long-standing policy, his administration reiterated support for Armenia’s territorial integrity and voiced opposition to projects such as the controversial Zangezur corridor.   Beyond hard politics, the visit also highlighted cultural and humanitarian ties. From historic Persian architecture in Armenia to the Iranian cultural center in Yerevan, symbols of shared heritage remain important pillars of bilateral relations. Pezeshkian stressed that cooperation is not limited to state contracts but is grounded in mutual understanding and centuries of friendship.   By choosing Armenia at this critical juncture, Iran’s president sought to: — defend Tehran’s influence in a rapidly shifting regional landscape, — resist Western-backed projects near its border, and — deepen economic, cultural, and political ties with a trusted neighbor.   The move was both pragmatic and symbolic — a reminder that Armenia remains a vital corridor for Iran’s ambitions in the South Caucasus.

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for transnational terrorist groups including al-Qaida, Islamic State, the TTP, and others.

Even a progressive, democratically rooted good twisted into unintended evil is nonetheless evil. Santa Muerte and the Narco Saint emerged from a problematic fusion of Catholic Liberation Theology and local folk beliefs(Photo credit: The New York Post).

By the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church controlled nearly one-third of Mexico’s arable land—a monopoly that stoked fierce power struggles, left thousands dead, and triggered waves of social upheaval. The roots of this imbalance lay in the Church’s relentless accumulation of land and wealth through exploitative practices, its alliances with entrenched political and economic elites, and its instinct to safeguard the institution over the well-being of impoverished peasants. These injustices hardened into what might be called a kind of mauvais sang—a deep, inherited malaise that ran through Mexico’s social fabric. It first erupted during the Cristero War (1926–1929), a bloody confrontation between Catholic establishments and liberal reformers seeking to dismantle the Church’s vast hacienda-based holdings. Later, the same malaise was rearticulated rhetorically through Liberation Theology, a movement forged in the crucible of poverty and inequality. By the 1970s, more than sixty percent of Latin Americans lived below national poverty lines, while regional Gini coefficients remained stubbornly above fifty, reflecting entrenched inequality.

Founded on the just cause of fighting poverty and injustice, Liberation Theology too often succumbed to liberal romanticism and revolutionary nostalgia. It lost faith in rational methods for resolving systemic problems—or in Catholic rationalism itself. Its embrace of Marxist ideas proved especially fraught, prompting Vatican condemnations in 1984 and 1986 for political excesses and theological divisiveness. This blurred the lines between spiritual liberation and criminal-political power struggles, fueling violence, corruption, and institutional instability. The movement notably gained momentum and was formalized through the Medellín Conference in 1968, held in Medellín—an area later infamous for its associations with drug cartels—highlighting the complex and sometimes troubling intersection between liberation theology and local power dynamics.

The Criminal Evolution of Catholic Liberation Theology

In the 1970s and 1980s, liberation theologians lent support to revolutionary movements across Central and South America, at times aligning themselves with guerrilla fighters and even drug traffickers. In Nicaragua, for example, prominent clerics backed the Sandinista revolution and supported guerrilla warfare against the Somoza dictatorship—a testament to how ideals of spiritual liberation could mutate into armed conflict. Although Liberation Theology publicly preached emancipation and equality, such entanglements deepened cycles of violence and institutional collapse. The resulting civil wars that swept Central America displaced millions and claimed over two hundred thousand lives, far from the justice liberation theologians so fervently pursued.

Colombia experienced similar tragic consequences. Between 1980 and 2010, roughly 220,000 people were killed in drug wars, some of which were indirectly legitimized through Church involvement financed by cartel money. Major cartels like Medellín invested millions in Church projects to buy political influence and grassroots legitimacy. This criminal patronage still thrives; a 2017 Colombian government report found that nearly fifteen percent of parishes in cartel-controlled regions maintained financial or logistical ties to illicit groups, eroding the Church’s autonomy and credibility.

Mexico followed a comparable trajectory. In regions where liberation theology had taken deep root, some parishes became enmeshed in local power structures overlapping with cartel networks. In Michoacán and Guerrero, priests faced investigations for allegedly accepting “donations” from traffickers, and cartel leaders often appeared openly at parish events. In 2013, Mexican authorities revealed that at least a dozen churches had been used for laundering crime proceeds, often through conspicuously large offerings.

In Mexico, the criminal legacy linked to liberation theology has uniquely embedded itself within the cultural landscape. The cult of Santa Muerte, or “Saint Death,” which now claims over eight million devotees—including drug traffickers—embodies the unsettling fusion of piety and organized crime. Despite condemnation by the Mexican Bishops Conference in 2013, the devotion endures, further eroding the Church’s traditional authority. Alongside Santa Muerte, narco-saint rituals reinforce cartel cohesion and territorial control, weakening the Church’s historic role as mediator and moral guide. Groups like MS-13, with up to seventy thousand members across the United States and Central America, have incorporated Santa Muerte and narco-saint practices into their own rituals, illustrating the deep cultural legacy of criminal–church entanglements. As a result of this persistent theological distortion, trust in the Catholic Church within cartel-dominated Mexican states such as Guerrero and Tamaulipas has fallen sharply—from 68 percent in 2000 to just 47 percent in 2023.

Catholic Liberation Theology and U.S.–Mexico Immigration

Since 2008, more than five million undocumented migrants have crossed into the United States from Mexico. In 2023 alone, southern border encounters totaled 2.4 million. The Church, through organizations such as Caritas Mexico, has provided humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of migrants—more than 300,000 in 2022. Yet Liberation Theology’s politicization, and its shadow of cartel collusion, have weakened ecclesial unity and hampered coordinated advocacy for migrant communities.

Across Latin America, traffickers and guerrillas alike have co-opted the rhetoric of Liberation Theology. By framing their work as “liberation from oppression,” they justify criminal violence as political struggle, muddying the boundary between crime and resistance. The effect is twofold: it grants such groups a veneer of legitimacy and draws popular support from the marginalized. What began as a call for justice becomes a script for lawlessness.

The result has been a deepening fracture in Latino communities and a harder road for U.S.–Mexico immigration reform. Pragmatic cooperation has given way to polarization and rancor.

Can Catholic Rationalism Offer a Way Forward?

Perhaps the most troubling legacy of Liberation Theology’s politicization is its encouragement of a radical Catholicism that resists Catholic rationalism. Catholic rationalism, rooted in the broader tradition of thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and European scholasticism, holds that moral and theological truths arise through the interplay of faith and reason. It demands clarity, logical consistency, and ethical accountability, enabling believers to confront real-world challenges with both doctrinal fidelity and intellectual rigor.

American Catholic rationalism, while grounded in these same foundational principles, is distinctively marked by its emphasis on practical moral reasoning, transparency, and accountability within the public sphere. It prioritizes engagement with democratic institutions, legal frameworks, and pluralistic dialogue, offering a pragmatic approach that bridges spiritual conviction and civic responsibility. This tradition fosters open debate and reform both within the Church and society at large.

The philosopher Jacques Maritain serves as a crucial bridge between Catholic rationalism as a whole and the American Catholic tradition. Born in France but influential for many years in American academic circles, Maritain helped shape modern Catholic thought, notably laying the intellectual groundwork for universal human rights grounded in human dignity, personal responsibility, and the integration of faith and reason. His reinterpretation of Aquinas’ doctrine of the golden mean envisioned Catholic rationalism as a discipline of balance, tempering extremes by placing reason and free will at the core of moral decision-making. Maritain’s focus on ethical accountability and transparency continues to inspire contemporary calls for reform and integrity within the Church.

Importantly, this rationalism acknowledges that human experience is always mediated and subject to distortion, emphasizing careful scrutiny of transcendental claims through reason rather than blind acceptance. Maritain’s perspective resists both unchecked subjectivity and rigid dogmatism, grounding spirituality in a balanced interplay of reason, ethics, and communal life. His modern virtue ethics elevates reason as essential for discerning moral truth, navigating between legalism’s rigidity and relativism’s uncertainty, and recognizing the dynamic, situational nature of virtues amid contemporary complexities.

Joined with today’s demands for accountability and reform, this nuanced rationalism offers a promising path to restore the Church’s credibility and renew its capacity to address political and social crises. Through transparent governance, consistent moral conduct, and pragmatic, faith-informed action, Catholic institutions can embody the golden mean—not merely as an abstract ideal but as lived practice—reclaiming their role as both spiritual leaders and thoughtful contributors to a more just and coherent society.

It will be difficult to truly address Japan’s inflation and debt woes given the fragile political environment. 

The case appears to rely on video materials published by an outlet the defendants didn’t work for, which prosecution experts have testified don’t contain direct calls for mass unrest.

Facing tariff threats from Trump, Brazil’s and Mexico’s responses diverged sharply – a split rooted in their respective relationships with the U.S. and China.

The meeting confirmed the new pope will follow the late Pope Francis’ approach to China. What does that mean for Taiwan?