Reuters (November 28)
“Thousands of people are taking to the streets in several cities across the country in an unprecedented protest against the government’s stringent COVID restrictions.” This sort of unrest “does not happen very often, and the world is watching intently to see how Beijing handles the brewing crisis.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Cities, COVID restrictions, Government, People, Protest, Stringent, Thousands, Unprecedented, Unrest
Time (February 16 edition)
Despite amassing enormous power, President Xi has struggled to manage major issues. “These include popular unrest in semiautonomous Hong Kong, a disruptive trade war with the U.S. and now an unfolding health crisis.” The coronavirus appears to be the biggest challenge. It “threatens to undermine further his mission to have China stake out the next century as America did the last.”
South China Morning Post (September 2)
“Hong Kong will have to endure more of the protest-ridden heat as the unrest continues beyond summer. And it’s going to heat up indeed. So the question remains… how long before Beijing runs out of patience?”
WIRED (November 1)
The walkout at Google was “just the latest sign of tech worker unrest.” Tech workers are “starting to recognize that even well-paid tech jobs are not immune to” harassment and other internal workplace issues, as well as ethical concerns over the products they sell. Thursday’s protest was just “the latest in a string of collective actions by tech workers against their employers” that has included “similar attempts inside Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon.”
Tags: Amazon, Employers, Ethical, Google, Harassment, Microsoft, Products, Salesforce, Tech worker, Unrest, Walkout, Well-paid, Workplace issues
Washington Post (April 30)
It is misleading to compare recent U.S. riots to “the unrest that followed the verdict in the 1992 Rodney King police brutality trial…. The fact is that steep increases in income inequality and mass incarceration, as well as racial disparities in school discipline that start in preschool, mean that the prospects of young African American men are worse now than they were then.”
Tags: Incarceration, Inequality, Misleading, Police brutality, Racial disparities, Riots, Rodney King, U.S., Unrest, Verdict
Forbes (September 29)
Vladimir Putin might “move against the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia” in an attempt to further weaken NATO. “Given the West’s responses to Russia’s invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, Putin may well be tempted to make a series of probes, after slicing and dicing Ukraine. He won’t send in troops and armor, as he’s done in Ukraine, but he’ll see what unrest he can create to start ‘softening up’ the Balts to become political vassals of Moscow.”
Tags: Baltic, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moscow, Nato, Putin, Russia, Troops, Ukraine, Unrest
Wall Street Journal (February 21, 2014)
“Americans are only waking up to the crisis” in the Ukraine, “but they should care how this turns out. The U.S. should want to pull Ukraine into the Western orbit as a matter of human dignity and strategic interest.” If the Ukraine leans toward Europe, it will “join the company of free nations and fulfill the aspirations of its people. A Ukraine tilted toward the corrupt authoritarian regimes allied with Moscow will be a source of regional unrest at best, and part of a revived Russian empire if Mr. Putin has his way.”
Tags: Authoritarian, Crisis, Europe, Human dignity, Moscow, Putin, Regimes, Russian empire, Strategic interest, U.S., Ukraine, Unrest
Wall Street Journal (February 16, 2014)
“It’s getting ugly in Venezuela.” The economy is crumbling with inflation north of 56% and wide-spread shortages, which have caused some factories to close. Amid growing protests, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is consolidating power using deaths at recent protests “to justify a government crackdown on growing civic unrest directed at his leadership and a deteriorating economy.” A natural “strongman,” President Maduro is now following “the Cuban model.”
Tags: Crackdown, Cuba, Economy, Inflation, Leadership, Nicolas Maduro, Protests, Shortages, Strongman, Unrest, Venezuela
New York Times (November 14)
Xi Jinping is poised to replace Hu Jintao as general secretary this week and president next March. “It could be sometime before the new relationships shake out and the world gets a clear sense of how Mr. Xi and his new colleagues intend to make their mark.” Will they continue on the same course or chose reform? Either way, they will confront challenge. China “faces daunting domestic and international challenges…. growth has slowed, state-run enterprises remain dominant in most industries and the gap between rich and poor is among the widest anywhere. Social and political unrest is increasing.”
Tags: Challenges, China, Hu Jintao, Reform, Unrest, Xi Jinping
Washington Post (April 13)
“The European ‘crisis’ is back. Actually, it never went away — and won’t for many years. The problems are so deep and pervasive that there is no easy or obvious solution…. Europe is caught in a trap that promises more political and social unrest.”
