1,000: Around 1,000 current and former members of the French military have signed a letter warning of a looming "civil war" in France over immigration and Islam. The text — released on the 60th anniversary of a failed coup meant to force then-President Charles de Gaulle to retain Algeria — was supported by far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
310 million: The US has pledged an additional $310 million in economic assistance to help Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala stem the flow of Central American migrants to the US southern border. Migrant arrivals from the "Northern Triangle" countries have been steadily growing since the beginning of the year.
1 trillion: Global military spending rose to almost $1 trillion last year, up 2.6 percent from 2019. The biggest spenders were the US, China, India, Russia, and the UK.
27,000: More than 27,000 people have been displaced in Colombia in the first quarter of the year, according to the country's human rights ombudsman. That's a 177 percent increase over the same period in 2020, as the country has suffered a pandemic-related uptick in violence.For sixteen years, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has won every fight: four consecutive parliamentary supermajorities for his party, Fidesz; a constitution rewritten to his specifications; courts, media, and oligarchs brought to heel.
In this “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer breaks down the newly announced two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran and whether it can hold.
Ivan Krastev explains how Viktor Orbán's economic survival depends not on Trump or Brussels, but on Beijing.