Weekly Focus articles are the centerpiece of our analysis. Focusing on a particular topic in politics or public policy, these articles place issues in a historical context, analyzing effects and consequences through to the present day. These articles feature additional source to allow for greater investigation by interested readers.
A gathering of protesters in Tunisia from last year. Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons.
February 9th, 2014
On Monday, January 27th, Tunisia adopted a new constitution, replacing the one that had governed it since its independence from France in 1956. The constitution, which was approved by the country's Constituent Assembly with over 90 percent of the vote, is a result of compromise between the Islamist and secular forces in the country. Western observers have praised the liberalism of the Constitution. However, this rosy result was far from certain during the two years it took to write the document.
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons
February 5, 2026
The recent release of China’s GDP growth numbers for the fourth quarter of 2013, as well as the numbers for the full year, have given mixed signals on the state of the Chinese economy. China’s GDP grew by 7.7% in 2013, slightly less than the 7.8% growth it experienced in 2012 according to the World Bank. This number is significantly less than the double digit growth that China experienced for much of the past three decades, and has led some analysts to wonder whether China’s days of fast paced growth might be coming to an end.
Population Graph courtesy of Karrasan
February 3, 2026
It is no news that China faces a problem of demography. But China’s aging demographics will put pressure on its already decelerating economic growth for years to come. An aging demographic can create new problems while exacerbating already existing issues.
January 30, 2026
During the 2012 United States presidential campaign, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came under fire for his bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and other tropical tax havens. Governor Romney’s money has a lot of new neighbors, according to a report from the International Consortium of Independent Journalists, many of them recent arrivals from China.
Gezi Park protesters, June 2013. Photo Courtesy of Alan Hilditch
On December 17th, Turkish police detained around fifty individuals accused of corruption and bribery. The scandal—and what implicated Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan—was that the arrested ranged from sons of government ministers to political allies in Turkey's financial sector. Thus began a new chapter in Erdogan's battle between his movement and the Turkish "deep state"—pockets of the administration loyal to their own interests.
M23 fighters in 2012. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The past few weeks have witnessed a major, and some say, historic change in the African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Weekly Focus explores the momentous ceasefire signed by the rebel group, M23, and the Congolese government.
President Bush signs a 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
