Europe

Self-proclaimed “conservatives” and members of the far-right like to promote the archaic worldview that women should be homemakers while men go to work to provide for their families. Recently, Orbán’s Hungary made the international headlines once again because the government-allied economic watchdog of the parliament released a report full of such sexist claims and narratives.

In the past few years, Europe has witnessed an upsurge of populist trends through several far-right and far-left parties sweeping around the continent. Sometimes with milder, sometimes with harsher manifestos, countries like Hungary, Greece, France, and Italy have been frequently in the spotlight. Currently, attention has been drawn to Italy and Sweden due to the September elections.

In the past few years, Middle Eastern governments have deepened their ties with the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin and his regime were equally enthusiastic about intervening in Middle Eastern politics and propping up the region’s autocracies to restore Russia’s status as a global superpower. Today, both sides collaborate on various political and security issues affecting the Middle East. This relationship now influences how various Middle Eastern governments respond to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The response has been mostly ambivalent, as most of the region’s governments see Russia as a valuable ally that they cannot afford to alienate.