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Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here. Is it another case of Broken Britain, where a decade after voting to leave the European Union, the country’s politics have fractured beyond repair? Or does it speak to a more troubling phenomenon — that few places appear governable. These days, one would be hard-pressed not to wake up to news in Europe of yet another government falling (Romania), one leader resigning over drones (Latvia) or another getting heckled by trade unionists (Germany). From Mexico to South Africa, rulers across continents are struggling, even the veterans. Many barely have time to enjoy their electoral success before becoming cripplingly unpopular. Keir Starmer won a landslide victory with his Labour party less than two years ago. Now he is on his way out. 
Larry, the Downing Street cat, outside the UK prime minister’s residence.
Photographer: Jaimi Joy/Bloomberg
Niccolò Machiavelli made the observation that “a cautious man, when it is time to be adventurous, does not know how to behave, so he is ruined.” Starmer was cautious to a fault. By contrast, Giorgia Meloni has been unafraid to be bold. But her longevity in the once-ungovernable Italy is perhaps the exception rather than the rule, and points to a sense that leaders have to stand for something. With so much dysfunction, the EU’s executive arm has been amassing more power. It’s worth remembering that the overreach of Brussels fueled successive waves of populist nationalism. Few have been more consequential than the English variety. The original Brexiteer, Nigel Farage, dealt Starmer a fatal blow in local elections to reveal just how divided the kingdom is. The traditional two-party British system has shattered into seven shards. Impatient voters with ever-shorter attention spans, just want to swipe screen to a fresh face. But cycling through another leader will do little to fix what has been broken. It’s a reality that whoever winds up replacing Starmer will need to grapple with. — Flavia Krause-Jackson 
Starmer (center) with French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German chancellor Friedrich Merz in Paris on April 17.
Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images
Global Must ReadsDonald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed the Islamic Republic shouldn’t possess a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz should reopen, as Beijing urged further diplomacy. The US leader told Fox News that the goal of recovering highly enriched uranium from Iran was “more for public relations than it is for anything else,” while reiterating his commitment to removing the nuclear material. After Xi regaled Trump with goose-stepping soldiers and flag-waving children, the Chinese leader’s warning that Taiwan could lead to “clashes” between the superpowers amounted to a thunderclap in the choreographed world of Communist Party politics. The assertion that American interference may trigger a “highly dangerous situation” marked Xi’s bluntest language yet. Meanwhile, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer anticipates that China will commit to billions in American agricultural purchases.  
The US and China summit readouts suggest differences remain on key issues.
Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro denied that money he sought from a scandal-plagued banker was meant for his younger brother amid mounting pressure on his fledgling campaign. The senator and top challenger to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reiterated in an interview that funds he requested from the man at the center of a sprawling fraud probe were intended to support a film about his father, former leader Jair Bolsonaro. Tensions were already high Wednesday night in the Philippine Senate, days after lawmakers abruptly ousted its leader and an ex-cop wanted by the International Criminal Court showed up after six months in hiding. But few could guess at how suddenly terrifying things were going to get, with the chamber plunged into chaos when dozens of gunshots suddenly rang out. Read our account here. Cuba said it has completely run out of the diesel and fuel oil it needs to keep its power plants running, with civil unrest breaking out amid a de facto US energy blockade of the communist-run nation. While the island of 10 million people is using domestic fuel production and solar energy to keep some lights on, the grid is now so fragile that large swaths of the country are going dark. Cuba’s electrical union said it could only cover about a third of national power demand. 
Senate security officers respond after gunfire was heard in the Senate.
Photographer: Aaron Favila/AP Photo
The United Arab Emirates tried to persuade neighboring states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar to coordinate a military response to Iran’s strikes and was left frustrated when they refused, sources say. The Pentagon scrapped plans to send about 4,000 troops to Poland, sources say, part of a broader review of the US military presence in Europe as Trump feuds with Germany and other members of the NATO alliance. The US Defense Department said it may not have the resources in Africa to properly identify when Islamic State and al-Qaeda offshoots in the restive Sahel region develop the capability to mount attacks on the US homeland. An Ebola outbreak in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo linked to 65 deaths and hundreds of suspected infections has triggered concerns the disease could spread across borders. Don’t miss from Bloomberg Weekend: Mishal Husain speaks with Kishore Mahbubani about China’s role in the world. John Boudreau and Nguyen Xuan Quynh write about Vietnam going all in on gambling, while Kevin Crowley and Adam Blenford look at the importance of price of gasoline in US politics. Subscribe to the newsletter here. 
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Hungary’s ambition to join the euro is changing the hierarchy of eastern European bond markets in a way that hasn’t been seen in years. Its borrowing costs are lower than Poland’s for the first time since 2020 and the gap over Czech Republic bonds has fallen by two percentage points since March. The shift underscores how investors have changed their mind on some of the region’s biggest economies as new Prime Minister Peter Magyar embarks on a mission to bring Budapest into the European mainstream. And FinallyStudents are getting a lucrative offer at one of Russia’s leading engineering universities: ditch your studies for a year, fly drones for the military and earn more than 5 million rubles ($68,000) as well as free tuition on your return. It’s part of a broader push to recruit from universities and colleges, using lavish signing bonuses, academic leave and even outright coercion, as Russia’s military tries to tap a population once largely shielded from service to join its war in Ukraine. 
An advertisement for contract military service in the Russian army’s unmanned systems units in St. Petersburg.
Photographer: Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images
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Friday, May 15, 2026
Beyond repair
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