Many of the posts on this blog are related to structural conditions that are painfully resistant to rapid change, while others relate to fast-moving events. Here are some links to provide updates on issues addressed in prior posts.
All the way back in August we discussed the Chinese government's continued manipulation of foreign media correspondents, despite pledges to allow greater freedom of movement in the run-up to the Olympics. The tragic recent events in Tibet have revealed quite clearly both the degree of control over foreigner reporters and the breathtakingly brazen manipulation of the local press.
A post in September described the political difficulties facing Turkey, the underlying cause of which was continued tension between the ascendent AK Party and the old-line secular elites. That fight continues, with the current focal point a constitutional challenge that could result in closure of the AK. The battle is described here, with an update as of earlier this week in this Turkish newspaper article.
In November we wondered whether, even with a strong record of economic growth, good governance would not prove to be the primary drag on Russian progress in the medium- to long-term. It is too soon to tell what will happen under new president Dmitry Medvedev, but in a lengthy interview this week with the Financial Times he spoke in detail about governance issues, focusing particularly on the rule of law. FT writers also contributed with an analytical description in the article found here.
The fascinating but worrying situation in Bolivia has been the subject of several posts, including this one describing a period in November when tension levels appeared to rising dramatically. The situation has since gone in cycles of rising and falling tension, with the current moment a high point. A good description of the situation can be found in this Democracy Center post, while an IPS article goes into greater detail on the confrontation between the government and soy producers, who are generally aligned with the opposition. Finally, another article gives an interesting broader overview of the situation from a perspective that is socialist but not as dogmatic or naive as much of the international left's coverage of Bolivia.
In early January we offered an update to the post-election cataclysm in Kenya, a situation which seemed to have been resolved last month with the help of Kofi Annan. However, the New York Times notes that while a power-sharing agreement was reached, the government and the opposition remain deadlocked over the details, a dangerous situation considering how on edge the country remains.
Also in January we discussed the often ignored problem of prison policy in developing countries, where grotesquely inhumane and counterproductive conditions remain all too common. Venezuela, which had over 400 deaths in 2007 among a prison population of just 20,000, is a particularly egregious offender in this regard. However, this article talks about ways in which the government is finally demonstrating some signs of a reformist impulse on prison conditions.
Prior to the Pakistani parliamentary elections in February we offered some thoughts on how things might turn out for President Musharraf. The answer, of course, was "very badly." However, the strong performance of secular moderates has offered hopeful signs, analyzed in a particularly interesting New York Review of Books article as well as in the New York Times.
Another February post offered analysis of the manifold failures of the public health system in post-Soviet countries. Soon after, an article in the Washington Post took a close look at one individual case of a hospital in Russia whose problems tied into many of the themes mentioned in the blog post.
Finally, a post earlier this month gave an overview of the state of play in Iran as parliamentary elections were imminent. See two articles (one, two) from the Economist describing the fairly predictable and dreary outcome.
