The Times (December 9)
“This week, parliament’s Brexit drama reaches its climax, resulting perhaps in a nation set on a course that no one seems to think is in the national interest, or the collapse of a government, or the fall of a prime minister. Barring a last-minute miracle, Theresa May has lost her final battle. Her big push has failed.”
Tags: Brexit, Climax, Collapse, Failed, Government, May, National interest, Parliament, Prime minister
Wall Street Journal (October 22)
“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won his third consecutive landslide victory on Sunday. That doesn’t mean voters are enamored of the man who is on track to become Japan’s longest-serving leader. Local commentators attribute his victory to TINA, short for ‘there is no alternative,’ and they have a point.”
Tags: Abe, Alternative, Japan, Landslide, Prime minister, TINA, Victory, Voters
Reuters (June 9)
“Despite her dramatic electoral upset, British Prime Minister Theresa May appears determined to stay in office. In the short term, she could yet manage it. But the longer-term consequences may well be disastrous for her country.”
Tags: Consequences, Determined, Disastrous, Dramatic, May, Prime minister, UK, Upset
The Economist (January 28)
The upcoming White House visit by the UK’s Prime Minister will be “a study in awkwardness: the mother superior dropping in on the Playboy Mansion.” Theresa May is not a natural fan of the Donald. “So why is Mrs May hurrying to Washington? Because Brexit compels Britain’s leaders to show that the country has powerful allies.” She “is desperate to line up a Britain-America trade deal that can be closed as soon as Brexit takes place, probably in 2019.”
Tags: Allies, Awkwardness, Brexit, Desperate, Prime minister, Theresa May, Trade deal, UK, Visit, White House
Financial Times (October 3)
“By announcing that she will start the formal negotiations for Britain to leave the EU by March 2017, the prime minister has walked into a trap. She has given away what little leverage Britain has in the negotiations — without receiving any of the assurances that she needs to achieve a successful outcome.” This will allow the EU to “simply run the clock down — knowing that the UK will be in an increasingly difficult situation.”
Tags: Assurances, Britain, EU, Leverage, May, Negotiations, Outcome, Prime minister
USA Today (July 13)
Comparisons are being made between Margaret Thatcher, the UK’s first female Prime Minister, and Theresa May, its second. Both entered office at inopportune times, but there are differences as well. “Unlike Thatcher, May lacks charisma. Indeed, she is rather dull but at least she is competent. In the age of Donald Trump, charisma appears to have lost its luster. In these turbulent times, May is ideally placed to take over from David Cameron.”
Tags: Cameron, Charisma, Comparisons, Competent, Donald Trump, Dull, Female, Prime minister, Thatcher, Theresa May, Turbulent, UK
The Economist (July 2)
“It is now a week since voters narrowly opted for Brexit, and the country has seldom looked so wildly off the rails. The prime minister has handed in his notice. The leader of the opposition is struggling to survive a coup. The pound hit a 31-year low against the dollar and banks lost a third of their value, before stabilising. Meanwhile there is talk in Scotland and Northern Ireland of secession.”
Tags: Banks, Brexit, Dollar, Northern Ireland, Opposition, Pound, Prime minister, Scotland, Secession, UK, Voters
Financial Times (May 23)
“India has a new prime minister; and each of Asia’s four most powerful nations is now led by a combative nationalist.” India’s Modi, Japan’s Abe, Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi make up the four “nationalist horsemen” who will transform Asia and perhaps the world. “The multilateralist assumptions of the postwar order are giving way to a return to great power competition. Nationalism is on the march, and nowhere more so than in the rising east.”
Tags: Abe, Asia, Assumptions, China, Combative, Competition, India, Japan, Modi, Multilateralist, Nationalist, Postwar order, Power, Prime minister, Putin, Russia, Xi
Wall Street Journal (May 18)
“Indians put their faith in a party promising economic opportunity and better governance over the traditional Indian formula of welfarism, patronage, corruption and hostility to foreign competition. Mr. Modi will be the first Prime Minister to govern without a coalition in nearly 30 years, and he has a rare mandate to enact market-opening reforms.”
Tags: Coalition, Corruption, Foreign competition, Governance, India, Mandate, Modi, Opportunity, Patronage, Prime minister, Reforms, Traditional
The Economist (May 10)
“Long in crisis, Thailand is close to the brink. Without compromises on both sides, it may well collapse.” Thailand has fallen hard. Not long ago, it was a “shining example” of democracy with its booming economy. Now “everything is broken.” The latest blow came when a court dismissed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine cabinet members in what is being viewed by many as a political intervention. The country remains split in two politically. “The irreconcilable differences between the two sides have swallowed up Thailand’s courts, its army and even the monarchy—and left Thailand at the abyss.”
Tags: Army, Brink, Broken, Cabinet, Collapse, Compromise, Courts, Crisis, Democracy, Economy, Monarchy, Politics, Prime minister, Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra
