In Beijing’s 2025 military parade, symbolism mattered as much as firepower. Alongside next-generation drones and hypersonic missiles, President Xi Jinping stood in a Mao-style suit, flanked by foreign dignitaries like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. Chinese state media called it a celebration of national “rejuvenation,” but for those who came of age during the […]
Category: World
Lebanon Is A Mess … That Kind Of Works?
A deeply divided population. An explosion, a mass government resignation. A militia stronger than the military, an invasion from the South. And yet, survival. In January 2025, elections in Lebanon brought to power President Joseph Aoun, the first president in three years since the previous president stepped down after the 2020 crisis. Since then, the […]
Four Years After the Fall of Kabul, Afghan Refugees Have Nowhere to Turn
In the months after the United States-backed government of Afghanistan first fell to the Taliban, international condemnation of the regime and support for Afghan refugees were swift and widespread. But now, the shifting tides of international immigration policy have definitively turned against Afghan refugees. As Iran, Pakistan, and the United States all begin to either […]
Indonesia and the Chronically Online Political Voice of Gen Z
Searching Indonesia on TikTok once yielded viral videos of an 11-year-old kid racing boats and “aura-farming”. Now, the same search is instead met with clips of burning buildings, demands to the government, and the “Jolly Roger” flag from the 1997 Japanese manga and anime One Piece. These two jarringly different snapshots have one thing in […]
Why Foreign Policy Needs a Feminist Perspective
In July of 2022, women took to the streets of Sri Lanka in protest of the burden disproportionately placed on them by decisions made by their government leadership. Due to the corruption and economic crisis caused, many women were left to carry an even larger share of the domestic work which sparked protests all across […]
Managed Paralysis in Global Climate Governance
In the outcome clause of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the phrase “accelerating efforts toward the phase-down of unabated coal power” suspiciously aligns with a common political phrase: “we will make meaningful progress.” However, both of these nonbinding statements — with little to no supporting […]
From Selfie to ISIS: How Western Powers Paradoxically Fund Terrorism
Picture this: fierce eyes, shiny gown, and a golden coffin worth millions. The perfect Kim Kardashian Met Gala Instagram post — fabulous, viral, and unforgettable. The photo lit up Instagram faster than any official Met ad campaign and accidentally exposed one of the biggest art trafficking scandals of the decade. The coffin wasn’t just a […]
Symbolic Strikes, Real Consequences in the Middle East
The death of Ahmed al-Rahawi, Prime Minister of the Houthi-controlled government in Yemen, represents an escalation of Israel’s military strategy: a move from targeting infrastructure to assassinating leaders. Israel confirmed responsibility for the airstrike that killed al-Rahawi and portrayed it as a necessary dissuasion against the Houthis’ ongoing missile and drone attacks. Since 2023, the […]
The Same Old Corruption Story in Argentina
Corruption in South America is hardly breaking news, but the Milei scandal cuts differently because it was never supposed to happen here. Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, rose to power as a chainsaw-wielding outsider who promised to destroy the “political caste” and end decades of backroom deals. Now, leaked recordings point straight at his […]
The “Sacred” Lobby: An Investigation of Religious Advocacy and its Impact on Geopolitics
In 1968, sociologist Peter Berger prophesied that by “the 21st century, religious believers are likely to be found only in small sects, huddled together to resist a worldwide secular culture.” Sixty years later, few predictions have aged worse. Religion, and subsequent religious advocacy, is not retreating from public life—it is increasingly becoming an effective political […]