South Asia

The elections in Indonesia could signal a new chapter in the history of the country, claims Derwin Pereira. But whether Joko Widodo or Prabowo Subianto win, the country's history of political and religious pluralism will preclude any sharp turns towards instability.

For years outside observers of Venezuela have followed the disastrous developments in the country under the leadership of Chavez and his successor Maduro with growing concern: the steep decline of the economy, growing violence and repression of human rights, the catastrophic living conditions of people without food or health care and the flight of 3 million Venezuelans into neighboring countries. The geopolitical implications of a growing influence of and indebtedness to China and Russia in addition to Cuba’s role in upholding the repressive regime created additional worries to Western governments. But reluctance to violate the principle of non-interference – always a particularly sensitive issue in Latin America – allowed the Venezuelan situation to deteriorate uninhibited over a long period.

Elon Musk jolted markets and shareholders when he tweeted his intention to take his electric car company, Tesla, private. Saudi billions, he proposed, could help the company escape the pressures of being publicly listed. In a blog post, Musk said that “the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund [had] approached [him] multiple times about taking Tesla private”.

Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Ambassador Richard Verma a non-resident Senior Fellow. Verma, who served as U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014-2017 and earlier as Assistant Secretary of State, will share with students and faculty lessons on diplomacy, developments in Asia, and U.S. national security policy.

Do U.S. drone strikes fuel militant Islamist group recruitment? New evidence, including a survey of residents of Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, suggests not.