South Korea:
South Korea’s economy is slowing: It massively relies on export (40-50% of South Korea’s GDP comes from export) of mostly electronics and boats, both of which faces heavy competition from China (Huawei, Xiaomi, etc.)
It also has mounting corporate debt, 171% of its GDP. In the past, economic reforms makes South Korea an ideal place for creditors to invest but not now. The confidence that “I can borrow a lot because I will get a lot of profits in the future” is not applicable anymore given the declining economy.
China:
China stood firm on the One China Policy, risking tensions with US over Donald Trump call to Tsai Ing-wen. The combination of the fact that China is now a global trade and military power that no country would risk messing with, also increasing domestic scrutiny because of domestic social grievances makes China cannot afford to look weak to anyone.
Moreover, China thinks that it doesn’t owe US for recognizing Taiwan as part of China. In the past, attempts has been made by US government to use Taiwan as a political leverage to China, such as promising to withdraw US troops from Taiwan in return of peace negotiations in Vietnam War and also when US offers China advanced weaponizes in return of letting US have a formal relationship with Taiwan, both failed.
Russia:
Russia is becoming more and more like USSR in terms of it’s attempt in power projection. To some conservative Russian thinkers, many of whom came to influence Vladimir Putin in his third turn at the presidency, the very idea of Russia as a democracy was itself a kind of defeat. It was an imposition of a foreign system of government ill-suited to Russia’s traditions and historical insistence on greatness, unity, and the subservience of the individual to a strong, centralized state. They, and Putin, resented Westernization, especially in its geopolitical manifestations, like NATO’s 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia in spite of Moscow’s protestations.
And so, after decades of watching the West impose its political and economic model on Russia, Putin has not only stopped its roll but reversed its tide. For years, he has used Kremlin-funded outlets like RT to wage war in Europe on the very idea of a verifiable, knowable truth. He has bankrolled far-left and far-right political parties to wreak havoc on Europe’s normally quiet politics (Ex: Marine Le Pen asks Putin for a 27 Million US$ loan). He was even been accused of “weaponizing” flows of Syrian refugees in order to destabilize the European Union. Now, Great Britain is exiting the EU after Brexit’s pied piper Nigel Farage spoke of his abiding admiration for Putin; France is getting ready to pick a pro-Russian president; and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, under attack by Russian cyber-armies, hangs by a thread.
Fun facts!
-Harvard aided USSR’s transition to democracy by help forming the 1991 constitution
– 100 parties used to exist in the USSR, including one for beer lovers.
Turkey:
Turkey’s parliament is currently debating a constitutional amendment that would heavily concentrate power to the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The change would scrap the office of prime minister and make the president the head of the executive branch, as well as allow him to appoint the government, dissolve Parliament, propose budgets and declare states of emergency. They would also allow Erdoğan to serve another two terms, ending in 2029.
Other proposed amendments would increase the number of seats in the 550-member Parliament to 600, reduce the minimum eligibility age for legislators from 25 to 18, and set parliamentary and presidential elections on the same day.
Debate on the set of amendments is expected to last two weeks. The reforms must clear two rounds of balloting in parliament, known as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, gaining at least 330 of the 550 votes.
If the package is approved by lawmakers, the government will submit it to a voter referendum for final approval — possibly in the spring.