About Keith
Keith B. Richburg is a member of the Editorial Board of The Washington Post and a Post Global Opinions columnist, where he writes primarily about foreign policy issues. From 2016 until mid-2023, he was Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong and a Professor of Practice, teaching courses on Covering Global Affairs, Feature Writing and on the role of the Journalist in Comics, Film, Fiction and Fact.
Latest Posts
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Obama’s win led to rosy predictions. Are they finally coming true?
After Barack Obama’s barrier-shattering victory in 2008, a lot of prognosticators — including me — thought maybe, just maybe, we were entering a new post-racial era of American politics. Those rosy predictions were quickly proved wrong. But after last week’s midterm elections, I’m thinking we were perhaps just premature. The results may not herald the…
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‘A stunning rebuke’: This isn’t the first midterms tsunami
The outcome of Tuesday’s elections may have been staggering, but it’s not the first time a president or party has been upbraided at the ballot box. Four writers reflect on historical midterm waves and what lessons they have for the present.
Recent Articles
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What the Senate will learn about Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed
Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed rode a nationwide surge of support for his party to make history in becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Yet in a year that saw unexpected Democratic gains in solidly red states such as South Carolina, Kansas and Texas, El-Sayed’s victory was closer…
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South Africa’s ANC faces its own midterm reckoning
Americans on Nov. 3 will be focused on the crucial midterm elections that might foreshadow the presidential race in 2028. But the next day, I’ll be looking at local government elections taking place across South Africa, where angry voters may deliver a rebuke to the African National Congress ahead of…
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Opinion – What’s the biggest threat to an authoritarian? Look around the world.
Leaders in Myanmar, Uganda and the Republic of Congo this year extended their rule through fraudulent elections, with the opposition cowed or eliminated. Kazakhstan’s dictator in March pushed through a constitutional referendum to entrench more power in the presidency, and possibly extend his rule past existing term limits. Opposition leaders…
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Opinion – Don’t fall for Myanmar’s election of generals
The pattern is familiar. A military man seizes power. Opponents are jailed or forced into exile. A sham election is held, the ruler swaps his military uniform for a suit and tie, and he bestows upon himself the more legitimate-sounding title of “president.”
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Opinion – Only a certain type of leader wants his face everywhere
Early in March came the surprising news that North Korea had unveiled the first known statue of its “supreme leader,” Kim Jong Un — surprising because I had assumed North Korea would be strewn with Kim statues. Such is the veneration a dynasty demands. (Image: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, under CC…
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Opinion – ‘People Power’ is not what ends dictatorships
Forty years ago this month, an estimated 1 million Filipinos took to the streets of Manila to topple an obdurate dictator and added a new term to the lexicon of popular protest: “People Power.” Anger had been building against President Ferdinand Marcos following a “snap” election he tried to steal.…
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Opinion – What dictators in Africa survive on
As Uganda’s Museveni seeks a seventh term at age 81, his erratic son waits in the wings. He campaigns for president wearing a bulletproof vest and a ballistic helmet. The security forces block him from using major roads and holding rallies in some cities. Over 400 of his party members…
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Opinion – Which country is the banana republic now?
The roster of former presidents and prime ministers imprisoned or under indictment in 2025 reads like a who’s who of some of this young century’s most powerful, prominent and even popular world leaders. And that’s even before U.S. troops seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and spirited him away to face…