Understanding Your VoteIn October 2026, more than 150 million Brazilians will go to the polls. They will elect a president, senators, federal deputies, governors, state deputies, and city councillors...

The Problem of Agency in the Papal Encyclical Magnifica HumanitasOn May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV published what was then the newest papal encyclical, entitled Magnifica Humanitas. The title in Latin is...

Peru, Party Systems, and a Strange Case of AutocratizationIn previous columns (referenced below), we discussed some of the contemporary sources of autocratization around the world. We talked about the...

Peru, Party Systems, and a Strange Case of AutocratizationIn previous columns (referenced below), we discussed some of the contemporary sources of autocratization around the world. We talked about the...

Quo Vadis, Democrats?In 2017, I was an exchange student—or, as my Lisbon classmates would kindly correct me with their European references, I was doing my “Erasmus” at the Portuguese Catholic Universi...

This week marks a decade since voters in the United Kingdom decided in a historic referendum to leave the European Union. Brexit, which won with nearly 52% of valid votes, promised to "bring back inde...

Soldiers of the rebel group M23 in Goma, 2025. Credit: Alexis Huguet/AFP"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war!" Mark Antony's famous line from Julius Caesar seems to describe with precision the c...

In March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq with the most sophisticated military force in history. Global positioning systems, laser-guided munitions, real-time communication networks, reconnaissanc...

For decades, Brazilian migration to Paraguay was mainly associated with economic motivations. In this context, the search for lower-cost products for resale in Brazil, as well as enrollment in private...

Is Fighting Corruption Authoritarian? The fight against corruption is often presented as the natural path to strengthening democracy. It is not uncommon to hear that, if we eliminate bribery, favoriti...