June 1 – North America / International Organizations:
UNITED STATES / PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he is withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement against the advice and appeals of many world leaders, scientists, big U.S. corporations, and major U.S. energy companies. President Trump characterizes the Paris Agreement as a bad deal for the U.S. that would cost the country in lost GDP and millions of jobs.[1] In the past, he often referred to climate change as a hoax. International leaders widely condemn Trump’s decision and vow to continue to uphold the agreement without the U.S. In the United States, Disney’s chief executive Robert Iger and businessman Elon Musk resign as the White House advisors in protest of the decision, while governors of New York, California, Hawaii, and Washington vow to uphold the terms of the Paris Accord in their states. However, Republican congressional leaders and the coal industry welcome the move. Because the process of exiting the agreement is lengthy, the U.S. will not leave the Paris Agreement until 2020.
Further information on key aspects of the Paris Agreement from UNFCC.
More on the consequences of the U.S. leaving the Paris Agreement from NPR
June 5 – Middle East / Africa / North America:
QATAR / SAUDI ARABIA / BAHRAIN / UAE / YEMEN / EGYPT / LIBYA / UNITED STATES
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, Egypt, and Libya’s eastern-based government abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism and links to Iran. They withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar and impose trade and travel bans. Qatar denies the accusation. Turkey and Iran strongly back Qatar in this regional diplomatic crisis. The United States President Donald Trump praises the decision of the Gulf countries’ isolation of Qatar contradicting the existing U.S. policy, while the Defense and State Departments remain neutral.[2] Qatar is home to the biggest US air base in the Middle East, Al-Udeid, with 9,000 U.S. troops and support personnel. With Qatar’s assistance, the base plays a key role in the US-led operations against Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.[3] The root cause of this diplomatic crisis lies in the two-decade Saudi-Qatar rivalry, which has forces the countries in the region to take sides. About the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut, Qatar controls some of the world’s largest gas reserves, which expanded its economy from $8.1 billion in 1995 to an astonishing $210 billion in 2014.[4] With the growing wealth, Qatar wants to play a bigger role in the region. (June 15): Qatar signs a $12 billion deal to buy F-15 fighters jets from the U.S.[5] The deal is completed despite Qatar’s recent criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump for allegedly supporting terrorism. (June 23): Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain say they will lift sanctions if Qatar fulfills 13 demands in the next 10 days. These demands include closing Qatar’s Al Jazeera broadcaster, reducing relations with Iran, closing Turkey’s military base, and cutting its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Qatar rejects the demands.
How the Qatar, Saudi Arabia Rivalry Help Inflame the Middle East: Video (3:43 min) from The New York Times.
June 5 – Africa / International Organizations:
MOROCCO / ECONOMIC COMMUNITY of WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS)
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agrees to admit Morocco despite its location in North Africa. The move is part of Morocco’s efforts to strengthen its relations with Africa. The West African economic union was established in 1975 to foster free trade and free movement of people. It consists of 15 West African members with a total population of almost 352 million.[6]
More on ECOWAS history, its fundamental principles, and life within the union.
June 8 – Europe: UNITED KINGDOM
Voters in the United Kingdom deliver a huge blow to the Conservative Party (the Tories) during a snap general election. The Conservatives lose 13 seats in the parliament to 318 seats and lose their majority, which needs 326 seats. The election is a victory for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which picks up 30 additional seats to a total of 262.[7] Corbyn campaigned on promises of better funding for health and education. British Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap election three years ahead of schedule, convinced by opinion polls that her Conservative Party could gain a larger majority and thus larger mandate to govern. However, after the recent terrorist attacks in the UK, the election campaign debates turned from Brexit to security issues and the fact that police numbers were cut by 20,000 when May served as Home Secretary.[8] The shocking election results embarrass and undermine May, with some calling for her resignation. It also creates a hung parliament where no party holds a majority and a government has to be formed through a coalition of parties. (June 26): The Conservative Party reaches an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to form a minority government. As part of the deal, the 10 DUP members of parliament will support the Conservatives’ policies. In exchange, Northern Ireland will receive an additional 1 billion pounds for infrastructure, health care, and education. Wales and Scotland question the deal and call for matching funds to their regions.
The UK general election explained for non-Brits: Video (2:48 min) from the Guardian
June 12 – Europe / Russia and Former Soviet Republics:
RUSSIA
Despite intimidation by the authorities, tens of thousands of people respond to Russian activist Alexey Navalny’s calls for protests against high-level corruption and stage rallies in towns and cities across Russia. The protests take place on Russia Day as Navalny’s tactic to connect the anti-graft campaign with patriotism. Navalny is detained upon leaving his apartment building to join the protests and quickly sentenced to thirty days in prison. Hundreds of protesters are also detained.[9] Alexey Navalny is currently the most prominent opposition figure in Russia who continues his dissent despite government harassment and intimidation.
More on human rights in Russia from Human Rights Watch: World Report 2017
June 13 – Latin America / East Asia:
PANAMA / TAIWAN / CHINA
Panama cuts diplomatic relations with Taiwan and establishes diplomatic recognition with China. Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee accuses the Panamanian government of ignoring decades of Taiwan’s assistance to Panama and giving in to economic interests by People’s Republic of China.[10] The situation is caused by China’s “One-China policy”, the view that there is only one “China”. In practice this means that countries seeking diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China must break official relations with Taiwan, officially the Republic of China. There are only 20 countries that still maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.[11]
More about historical divide between China and Taiwan from BBC: What’s behind the China-Taiwan divide?
June 14 – Africa / International Organizations / Global Issues
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO / POLIO GLOBAL ERADICATION INITIATIVE
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports new cases of polio in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the first ones since 2012. These new cases come from areas with poor vaccine coverage.[12] Polio is a potentially deadly infection that results in permanent paralysis. Thanks to efforts to eradicate polio worldwide, cases of the disease decreased by over 99 percent since 1988, from more than 350 000 cases to 37 reported cases in 2016.[13] It remains endemic in three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Until polio is completely eradicated, all countries, but especially those with weak public health and immunization services, remain at risk of importation of polio.[14]
Explore more about polio and efforts to eradicate it.
June 18 – Europe: FRANCE
President Emmanuel Macron’s newly formed centrist La Republique En Marche (LREM) party wins a huge majority in the French parliament after the second round of the general elections. His party now has 308 of the 577 seats in the parliament. Together with its partner, centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem), Macron’s coalition will have 350 seats, or 61 percent of the legislative seats. More than 200 of the elected legislators, more than 38 percent, are women.[15] The election results give President Macron a strong mandate to implement his social and economic reforms. He plans to loosen France’s restrictive labor laws, lower unemployment, and cut corporate tax from 33 percent to 25 percent.
Emmanuel Macron: What are the French president’s policies?
June 19 – Europe / Russia and Former Soviet Republics / International Organizations:
RUSSIA / NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO)
A Russian military jet aggressively flies within 5 feet of a US spy plane over the Baltic Sea. (June 21): A NATO fighter jet approaches a Russian plane carrying the defense minister to the militarized Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. A Russian jet escorts it away from the plane. Tensions between Russia and NATO have intensified in recent years after the alliance expanded its military presence in Poland and the Baltic states following Russia’s aggression into Ukraine in 2014. The tensions intensified after the recent downing of a Syrian jet by the US forces in Syria. Russia is an ally of the Syrian regime.[16]
Listen to an NPR’s interview about the growing military standoff between NATO and Russia in northeastern Europe.
June 22 – GLOBAL ISSUES
The US Department of State releases its annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which measures and ranks government efforts in three areas: prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, and preventing the crime. Human trafficking includes sex trafficking, forced labor, domestic servitude, and recruitment and use of child soldiers. The Report incorporates the insights of NGOs, advocates, and survivors with firsthand experience to provide evidence and to educate the public about the $150 billion illicit human trafficking industry. It also intends to provide an incentive for governments to prevent and prosecute trafficking, support victims, and shield at-risk populations.[17]
The Report ranks countries in three tiers according to their response to human trafficking. Tier 1 consists of countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA). Tier 3 includes countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA and are not making efforts to do so.[18] This year’s report downgrades China, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Russia, and Uzbekistan to tier 3, the rank of worst offenders.
2017 Trafficking in Persons Report