Word: nationalists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...First, the background: As usual, the elections pits Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Khaleda Zia, widow of assassinated President Ziaur Rahman, against the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh's first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. These have alternated in government every five years since military rule ended in 1991, with the BNP forming the most recent government. Bangladesh's constitution, however, requires that the incumbent party steps down a few months before an election and hands the reins to a neutral caretaker government to run the country and oversee the electoral commission, until the next government...
...natural-born populist, Ahmadinejad cleverly expanded his support base after his election last year by turning Iran's quest to become a nuclear power into a nationalist cause. His outspoken defense of Palestinian rights, threat to wipe Israel off the map and questioning of the Jewish Holocaust have likewise made him a hero in much of the Muslim world. Coming at a time of dwindling American influence in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, Ahmadinejad's leadership is an emblem of a resurgent Iran that is assuming a role as a major regional power. Until now, his assertiveness has enabled...
...dossiers that are now no longer in national control. A total separation like the so-called "velvet divorce" of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992 is impossible because of Brussels: Belgium's capital is in Flanders, but 85% of its residents speak French. That hasn't stopped radical nationalist groups like the xenophobic Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) from pushing for total separation, which may have contributed to the idea being shunned by other parties...
...Turkey, meanwhile, a different kind of skepticism is taking root. When Turkey began membership talks, 64% of Turks in one poll said they were in favor of joining the E.U. By this month that number had dropped to 32%. Nationalist parties critical of the government's pro-E.U. policies are gaining strength. Support for the country's two right-wing Euro-skeptic opposition parties has grown to 26% from about 17% four years ago. If they capture that much of the vote in next year's election, they could force a coalition with Erdogan's AK Party...
...book fingers everyone but Islamists) have increased as his trip approaches. The country is expected to place about 22,000 policemen on the streets of Istanbul while he is there. "This is a very high-risk visit," says Cengiz Aktar, a Turkish political scientist. "There is a vocal nationalist movement here, and there is the Pope, a man who likes to play with fire...