Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris greets diners during a visit to a restaurant in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, before heading to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 18, 2024.

“I’m not a member of any organized political party,” humorist Will Rogers once said. “I’m a Democrat.”  

That quip, from deep in the last century, has stood the test of time for a party long known for its factions and infighting. Until now. 

As the Democratic National Convention (DNC) opens Monday in Chicago, party faithful – for the most part – have a spring in their step. Their onetime standard-bearer, President Joe Biden, is heading into retirement, instead of a campaign slog that appeared doomed to defeat in November. 

Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, the race against Republican nominee Donald Trump is a dead heat. Democrats suddenly have a fighting chance, and they know it. 

The party’s recovery has been eye-popping. In the space of a month, President Biden dropped out of the race, and Vice President Harris moved seamlessly into the nominee spot, tapping Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Once seen as an awkward campaigner, Ms. Harris has defied expectations, impressing even some critics. Her rally crowds number in the thousands, while a tsunami of fundraising and grassroots volunteering has followed. The momentum shift is having ripple effects: Political handicappers now say Democrats have a shot at winning control of the House, though the Senate is still an uphill battle.  

“The energy is real, and it’s going to continue,” says Ann Lewis, a veteran Democratic strategist, who has attended every DNC since 1976. “People are asking, ‘Where should I go? What can I do?’”

Voices of dissent at DNC over war in Gaza

To be sure, voices of dissent will be in the mix. Ms. Lewis, who served as communications director in the Clinton White House, is in Chicago as co-chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, a group promoting strong U.S.-Israel ties. On the other side, pro-Palestinian groups opposed to U.S. aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza have organized a big march Monday outside the DNC, and other protest actions in Chicago are expected throughout the week. 

Many of those protesting, of course, may not even be Democrats, but socialists or other left-wing groups. Still, dissident voices over Gaza could ring out inside the convention itself, just as they did at many of Mr. Biden’s – and now Ms. Harris’ – campaign rallies. There will be a small but potentially vocal contingent of “uncommitted” delegates in the arena. 

Ms. Harris has already demonstrated a different approach to handling protesters. She listens for a bit, and then sternly shuts them down. Her recent rebuke of pro-Palestinian students who interrupted her at a rally in Detroit was especially sharp. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” she said, to roars of approval.

Not the “open convention” some feared 

Despite the potential for tumult, political observers marvel at how smoothly the party’s last-minute ticket swap has unfolded. After Mr. Biden’s poor June debate performance, as Democratic officials began leaning on him to leave the race, some worried it would precipitate an even more divisive power struggle. But after Mr. Biden dropped out on July 21, the party closed ranks almost immediately around Ms. Harris as his replacement, avoiding the chaos of an “open convention” that some had feared. 

In a multiday, virtual roll-call vote of the DNC’s more than 4,500 delegates, which closed Aug. 5, Ms. Harris won 99% of the vote. 

“What we’ve seen here is that, yeah, the Democratic Party is actually way stronger than we thought,” says Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver and author of a book that showed how the Democrats learned from their 2016 loss. 

Mr. Biden’s quick endorsement of Ms. Harris, who is Black and South Asian and would be the nation’s first woman president, effectively ensured her path to the nomination – and with nary a peep from other party power centers. 

“There’s no Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders who’s come out and said, ‘No, we need to go in a different direction,’” says William Howell, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, referring to two of the Senate’s outspoken progressives and past presidential contenders. “Everyone seems to have fallen in line and behaved well.” 

This is remarkable, he says, given the Democrats’ history of warring factions – including at the party’s 1968 convention, also in Chicago, which was marred by clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War protesters. 

Opposition to Trump remains a key motivator

In 2024, fear over the potential return of former President Trump to the Oval Office has played a big part in the coalescing around Ms. Harris, Professor Howell says. 

In a few cases, there’s hedging. Three Democratic senators in tough reelection races – Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada – are skipping the convention, as are a handful of House Democrats in toss-up races. Of the three senators not coming, one – Senator Tester – has yet to endorse Ms. Harris. But the overarching show of party unity in Chicago leaves room for a few elected officials to stand back. 

Ms. Harris has also benefited from inheriting a well-oiled Biden campaign operation – including field offices, staff, and volunteers.

Still, although there are only 2 1/2 months to go until Election Day, it’s too soon to say the trajectory of the race has permanently changed, says Republican pollster Whit Ayres. Much will happen between now and Nov. 5.

“Basically, what we have is an enormous burst of enthusiasm from Democrats who are relieved that they’re not having to run with Joe Biden at the top of their ticket,” he says.

For the first time after a decade of political upheaval and disempowerment, 8.7 million voters in the north Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir have the chance to elect their next government. 

The opportunity follows profound changes in the region since the last state elections in 2014, including the removal of the region’s statehood in 2019. The revocation of Article 370, which had granted Jammu and Kashmir special autonomy, led to the region’s division into two federal territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – and placed both under Delhi’s direct control.

Authorities repeatedly postponed elections, citing security concerns. Indeed, some wondered if they ever would come.

Yet at the urging of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India stated on Friday that local assembly elections will be held next month, with polling dates set for Sept. 18, Sept. 25, and Oct. 1, and results expected shortly after. It will be one of the region’s fastest assembly elections, and Delhi is planning to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence. 

The announcement has raised hopes for more local representation in an administration currently controlled by bureaucrats. Although the new government will have reduced legislative powers compared with previous state assemblies, experts view this as a crucial step toward greater political empowerment – and possibly restoration of statehood.

Rekha Chowdhary, who taught political science at the University of Jammu, says elections will help bridge the gap between the people and their government.

“There has been a severe political vacuum in Jammu and Kashmir, and people have been missing the electoral process,” she says. “Having elections after 10 years is certainly the beginning of change.”

Kashmir’s long fight for agency

The disputed, majority-Muslim Himalayan region has been the subject of multiple wars between India and Pakistan, and when Jammu and Kashmir accepted Indian rule 70 years ago, it was on the condition that the state would retain its special autonomy and right to self-determination. But the conflict has beat on, with Indian forces flooding the region to combat separatist insurgencies, and Delhi deciding five years ago to unilaterally revoke Article 370 in the name of further integrating the region. 

Mukhtar Khan/AP

People cut through a busy market in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, Aug.16, 2024. The announcement of assembly election dates has raised hopes for more local representation in the territory's government.

That decision was followed by a monthslong communication blackout, and the arrest of major political leaders and other critics of Indian rule, some of whom remain behind bars today. Along with their absence, most anti-Indian parties (which typically called to boycott elections anyway) have been banned or dissolved, leaving only mainstream, pro-Indian parties to participate in the upcoming race.

But Kashmiris still have a choice. India’s 2024 general elections saw record-high turnout throughout the Kashmir Valley, where multiple parliamentary districts voted against proxies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and for local parties they perceived as more independent or critical of Delhi’s approach to Kashmir. 

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was among those imprisoned in 2019, expects similar results come October. He believes the primary task of the newly elected assembly should be to demonstrate to India and the world that the people of Jammu and Kashmir reject the decisions made on Aug. 5, 2019. 

“Then we start undoing what was done to us,” he told reporters Friday evening in Srinagar, in response to the elections announcement. “It is going to be a fight to restore statehood. Nothing is going to come to us easily. Even these elections did not come to us easily.”

A chance to “get things done”

Noor Muhammad Baba, a political analyst, is more skeptical, noting that the 90-seat assembly will still be operating within a framework where significant powers remain with the Delhi-appointed lieutenant governor. 

But “at the very least, [these elections will] provide people with representatives to address their concerns, which is currently lacking,” he says. “Access to higher bureaucracy and the lieutenant governor is challenging for ordinary citizens.”

Fahad Shah

Ubair Shah, who runs a cold storage business, stands in an apple orchard in his hometown in south Kashmir's Shopian District. He hopes the new assembly will better understand issues facing Kashmiris.

It’s a welcome change for Ubair Shah, who runs a cold storage business in south Kashmir’s Pulwama District and is feeling hopeful about the upcoming elections. 

“Right now, our only access [to the government] is through the bureaucracy,” he says. “While there have been some investment-friendly policies, it’s not always easy for bureaucrats to fully understand our issues. With elected representatives, it would be easier to communicate our needs and get things done.”

Arif Akhoon, a Srinagar-based fellow at New Delhi’s Institute of Company Secretaries of India, agrees that the elections could help ease the daily struggles faced by residents of Jammu and Kashmir. 

“Being stopped multiple times on the highway, facing hurdles in obtaining security clearances for government jobs or passports, and witnessing our natural resources deteriorate – these are the areas that need attention,” says Mr. Akhoon. “If elections can address these issues, it would signify meaningful change.”

Temilade Adelaja/Reuters

Volunteers rebuild the fence outside the Southport Islamic Society Mosque after it had been torn down by violent protesters.

Nearly three weeks after the Southport Islamic Society Mosque came under attack by anti-immigrant rioters, the building is still on high alert. Security guards in black uniforms patrol the premises, and few worshippers have yet felt safe enough to return to attend prayers. 

The mosque, in northwestern England, was the first to be assaulted by far-right mobs hurling bricks and other objects and setting fires in the street, signaling the start of a nationwide wave of rioting. Though the violence has now died down, its impact here lives on.

“You can never say when this sort of thing might happen again,” says local resident Muhammad Ayman. “So there is fear, but our faith in Allah gives us a lot of courage.”

Bolstering that sentiment have been non-Muslim locals who were quick to show their support and sympathy for their neighbors. The morning after the attack, dozens of them came to the mosque to express solidarity, says Farrukh Ahmad, the mosque’s muezzin, who calls the hour of daily prayers.

“They came here even before we came here,” Mr. Ahmad recalls. “They came with brushes and shovels, and they tried to clean our road and our car park,” he says. “Plus, they sent us loads of food and flowers and cards. And it wasn’t just our neighbors. People have come from Bolton, Manchester, Preston, and all over to share in our sorrow. And they are still coming.”

Temilade Adelaja/Reuters

Ibrahim Hussein, chair of the Southport Islamic Society Mosque, speaks to the media after violence broke out outside the mosque.

His words are echoed by Ibrahim Hussein, the chair of the mosque. “The community is wonderful,” he says. “We’ve been here for 30 years, and none of this [rioting] has ever happened before. We’re always passing by and saying good morning, good evening. There is nothing between us but respect.”

The riots broke out following the killing of three little girls, stabbed as they attended a dance class a few hundred yards from the Southport mosque. False reports that the attacker was a Muslim immigrant spread across social media, sparking nationwide violence against mosques and hotels sheltering asylum-seekers.

It was later announced that the attacker was neither an immigrant nor a Muslim.

Facing the facts

The British government, led by Keir Starmer, formerly the country’s top prosecutor, has promised stern punishment for those found guilty of committing or inciting acts of violence. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has announced that 1,024 people have been arrested and 575 charged nationwide. Around 100 have been convicted and sentenced so far.

Among those convicted last week was a middle-aged woman who responded to a photograph of white and South Asian people clearing up outside the Southport mosque by urging fellow members of her Facebook group to “blow the mosque up with the adults in it.” She was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment.

Still, there remains a sense among British Muslims that much needs to change if they are to feel safe. To start with, says Mr. Hussein, “the language of the media has to change, and the politicians have to watch their words because whatever they say ends up resonating. When they talk about immigration, they talk about it in a derogatory way. They just should calm down a little bit.”

Belinda Jiao/Reuters

People hold signs at a protest against racism outside the Reform UK party's headquarters in London, Aug. 10, 2024. Reform UK politicians have expressed hostility toward migrants and Muslims, though the party denies fostering bigotry.

For Zara Mohammed, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, only a clear-eyed appraisal of past immigration policies can serve as a basis for healing. “We have to tackle the root of the issue,” she says.

Ms. Mohammed accuses the previous Conservative government of “not only inciting hatred against migrants and asylum-seekers,” but also allowing former Home Secretary Suella Braverman to talk of an “Islamist takeover” and letting Lee Anderson, the former party chair, claim that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of extremists.

This kind of language, Ms. Mohammed argues, has been co-opted by some tabloid newspapers to sow divisions in British society, helping to create an atmosphere of mistrust that can be exploited by far-right activists.

This can be addressed only if the media report on Muslims with greater nuance and accuracy, says Faisal Hanif, who tracks media coverage of Islam for the Centre for Media Monitoring. Riot reporting threw up numerous examples of “journalists excusing the violence or at the very least providing a context which they would not afford to Muslims in a similar situation,” he says.

Thousands of anti-racism protesters have gathered across the country in response to the riots. But though these counterprotests have done much to restore trust among British Muslims, who make up about 6% of the total population, there remains a sense that there is work still to be done.

“From a government point of view, there needs to be positive engagement and work with Muslim communities, as well as ensuring that our mosques and places of worship are kept safe,” says Ms. Mohammed.  

“And of course the ... most important thing ... is keeping our communities united and together,” she adds. “It’s in that spirit that we’ve seen so many people come out against racism. ... We know that doesn’t represent the Britain we all love.”

When President Joe Biden delivers the keynote address Monday night at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, emotions among the delegates are likely to run high – a mix of gratitude for his decades of public service, a sense of poignancy, and a tinge of relief.  

One month ago, President Biden was still his party’s presumptive nominee for the November election, despite poll numbers heading south. He still had his base: ride-or-die supporters who believed he had the best shot at beating former President Donald Trump. 

But it wasn’t to be. Mr. Biden, under intense intraparty pressure, stepped aside on July 21. Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a loyal Biden delegate, is floored by how much better things now look for the party.

“I’m a big fan of Joe Biden’s, and I was sad to see what happened, happen,” Ms. Mendoza says in an interview. “But I’d be lying to you if I told you that the momentum shift was anything other than monumental.”

The president “passing the torch,” she adds, “is going to be one of those defining moments of his legacy.” 

A missed opportunity for competitive primaries?

Other Democrats are less glowing. They wish that the octogenarian president had come to accept much sooner that he had slowed down and would better serve his party by not running for reelection. That could have allowed for a proper primary contest among the party’s next-generation talent, these party members say.

But the emergency transition to Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic nominee, has been remarkably smooth. And in his prime-time address Monday night, Mr. Biden is expected to make a strong pitch for her candidacy. Electing her, based on their joint record, and blocking Mr. Trump, whom Mr. Biden views as a threat to democracy, would in effect solidify the president’s legacy. 

After Mr. Biden’s speech, he and his wife, Jill – also speaking Monday night – will board Air Force One and fly to California for a vacation. The idea of Mr. Biden, who lives and breathes politics, leaving a Democratic convention early would have been unheard of, under different circumstances. 

The president has been to all but one Democratic convention since his first in 1972, when he was an upstart Senate candidate and council member from New Castle County, Delaware, who had yet to turn 30. That’s 13 conventions spread over more than a half-century. (The only one he missed was in 1988, as he recovered from brain surgery not long after his failed first presidential campaign.)

But this year, Mr. Biden’s intent clearly is to cede the stage, literally and figuratively, to his hoped-for successor. 

Still an election for Biden to focus on

One close friend who will be watching Monday night from the United Center is Ted Kaufman, who served as Mr. Biden’s decades-long chief of staff in the U.S. Senate. He also served as a senator from Delaware himself when Mr. Biden became vice president. 

In an interview, Mr. Kaufman ascribes the current unity among Democrats to the “existential threat” posed by former President Trump. He emphasizes that Monday night will not be Mr. Biden’s goodbye to the nation.  

“This is not going to be his farewell speech,” Mr. Kaufman says. “His farewell speech will be in January.”

On Monday, the speech will center on “how important it is that we leave this convention and go out and elect Kamala Harris president of the United States,” he says. “That’s enough.”

Mr. Kaufman says he wasn’t surprised that Mr. Biden decided to drop his reelection bid – or that it seemed to happen so suddenly, with the president insisting that he wouldn’t quit the race until the day he abruptly announced he was out. 

That’s how Mr. Biden operates, his friend and former aide says. “He’s been doing this for 50 years, and one of the things that’s made him so successful is that he’s really good at analyzing his situations and making decisions and making them quickly.”

“More betrayals than a Shakespearean drama”

Chris Whipple, author of the book “The Fight of His Life,” which covers the first two years of the Biden presidency, sees the moment as “bittersweet.” 

Dropping out of the 2024 race “was obviously the most difficult decision he or any other president has made in a long, long time,” Mr. Whipple says. “I mean, just think back to Lyndon Johnson in 1968” – the last sitting U.S. president to quit his reelection race. 

“But it’s also tragic in a way. This had more betrayals than a Shakespearean drama,” he adds, rattling off the names of high-profile Democrats who turned on Mr. Biden one by one – former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former President Barack Obama, and even celebrities such as actor George Clooney. 

Even more brutal, Ms. Pelosi has been offering some glimpses of the behind-the-scenes machinations to get Mr. Biden to drop out, as she promotes her new book, “The Art of Power.” “I never called one person, but people were calling me saying that there was a challenge there,” she told The New Yorker.

Another close observer of Mr. Biden, former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska – a friend of the president dating back to their days in the Senate – also says he’s not surprised that the president ultimately decided to drop out. The Nebraskan says he spent a couple of hours with Mr. Biden in the White House back in December, and has spoken with him a few times since.  

“I always had the feeling that he would eventually make this decision,” Mr. Hagel says. 

Why? 

“Put yourself in his position,” he says. “For 50 years, he’s been doing this, and he’s been knocked down, as he likes to say, a number of times, but he gets back up and he eventually succeeds.” 

“That’s who Joe Biden is. But you get to a point in your life and your career where things have really shifted and changed dramatically – not only your age and your capacity,” he adds. “When it’s time for new leadership, it’s time for new leadership.”

Biden’s own legacy at stake as Harris seeks election win

Ms. Mendoza, the Illinois state comptroller, says she’s expecting the mood at the convention around the president’s speech to feel “somewhat nostalgic, somewhat bittersweet.” She says she still feels some sadness around how things played out.

“He’s been through so much pain and heartache and loss in his life that having to walk away from this position had to just be another major blow,” she says, alluding to the deaths of the president’s first wife and baby daughter in 1972, then his eldest son, Beau Biden, in 2015. 

“But I think at the end of the day, he’s gonna have a huge smile on his face when he sees Kamala Harris be sworn in as president of the United States.” 

Ever since a wildfire tore through Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl’ecw First Nation in British Columbia last August, Kúkpi7 (Chief) James Tomma has sought to model resilience.

Thirty-four homes were lost in the blaze, including his own. He was displaced, like dozens in his community, to the city of Kamloops about 40 miles west and oversaw rebuilding efforts from there. Indigenous communities, on the front lines of Canadian forests, have been disproportionately affected by the nation’s wildfires. Of nearly 300 evacuation orders last year in Canada’s worst fire season on record, a third were for Indigenous communities, according to the Canadian government.

In April, Kúkpi7 Tomma led a homecoming ceremony for residents returning after eight months away. The ribbon-cutting for the Dancing Fawn II subdivision, the first group of homes constructed, drew a wide range of public officials, including Canada’s Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu.

Drummers and singers performed as community members streamed into their new neighborhood. “I can’t say this is closure,” Kúkpi7 Tomma later explained, “but this is part of healing. My band members, we’re devastated. It’s a ‘welcome home’ ceremony bringing our people back on the land, regardless of what it looks like or what it is.”

The new homes, where roofers were hammering away as the ceremony began, look onto acres of charred trees, a constant reminder of the devastation and a source of heartbreak for a landscape lost.

Elder Wilfred Tomma told those gathered he felt “naked” without the ceremonial objects he lost in the fire, including his sacred pipe and drum. But he also shared an elder’s perspective: Not a single life was lost in this fire. And the community has come together stronger, which Mr. Tomma said has fortified him.

“I’m very proud of our community,” he said. “They’re learning to be a community again. We forgot about that – how to be a community, one people.” 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

HOMECOMING: First Nation elders listen during a “welcome home” event in their new subdivision. Indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected by the wildfires in Canada.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

A RITE OF RENEWAL: Traditional drummers play and sing during the homecoming gathering.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

BLESS THIS LAND: Elder Wilfred Tomma says the opening prayer during the homecoming gathering.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

CEREMONIAL OBJECTS: A First Nation member carries items in a backpack before a ceremony held during the homecoming.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

SIGN OF HOPE: Rebuilding is occurring at a record pace, with 11 houses constructed in the subdivision only eight months after the Bush Creek East wildfire.

Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman patrols an area in Sudzha, Kursk region, Russia, Aug. 16.

Military experts around the world are scratching their heads. Just a week after its cross-border attack on Russian soil, Ukraine said it had captured more land than Russia had grabbed during eight months in eastern Ukraine. The big question: What was Ukraine’s secret innovation?

This is not the first time the rest of the world has marveled at Ukraine’s creativity as an underdog wunderkind against a giant Russian force. From new mental health services for war-struck citizens to a new digital system that links all of society, Ukraine is inspiring many countries from Taiwan to Estonia.

“While Ukraine often relies on foreign experience, equipment and training, at the same time it is constantly developing its own novel kit, approaches, and mechanisms which could potentially be useful elsewhere,” wrote Andreas Umland, an analyst with the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies, in the Kyiv Post.

“This new Ukrainian knowledge and experience will come in especially handy for countries which may be confronted with similar challenges.”

Perhaps one reason for the success of Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia is its people’s abilities to innovate. Ukraine’s military focus is “placed on capabilities rather than technologies,” writes defense expert Mykhaylo Lopatin, in the War on the Rocks blog. A whole system of tactics is “preferred to material solutions.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, himself an inspiration as a leader, tells Western allies that Ukraine has developed good “social infrastructure” since Russia’s first invasion in 2014, when it annexed Crimea. This includes major reforms in fighting corruption and reliance on local governments to deliver essential services more quickly and equitably.

At the military level, Ukraine relies on an informal and trusting network between tech entrepreneurs and the armed forces. A good example is Dzyga’s Paw, a charitable foundation that supplies the military with high-tech equipment, relying on foreign donations. The charity’s competitive advantage is the high transparency it offers donors who want to know their money is being used efficiently.

High qualities of thought, in other words, are the best defense against a Russia that relies on massive weapons and a rigid, top-down bureaucracy. “Ukraine’s experiences can be useful for various nations shifting from a traditional to a liberal order, from patronal to plural politics, from a closed to an open society, from oligarchy to polyarchy, from centralized to decentralized rule,” stated Dr. Umland. 

Little wonder that Russian President Vladimir Putin chose a new defense minister in May who has a record as an economist in transforming the Russian economy. The defense ministry, Mr. Putin said, “must be absolutely open to innovation, to the introduction of all advanced ideas.”