Berkeley Political Review

UC Berkeley's Only Non-Partisan Political Magazine

The Future is for Sale on Polymarket

The 2024 U.S. presidential election was one of the most disheartening nights of the last year. It was also the first time I heard about Polymarket. This was not a coincidence, of course. As a group of friends and I were crammed in a claustrophobic dorm room watching a map of states flipping

Meet the Man Doing America’s Diplomacy in the Shadows

Meet the Man Doing America’s Diplomacy in the Shadows

On October 13, President Donald Trump stood in front of the Knesset to give a speech following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire

November 21, 2025
California’s Unlearned Lesson From Germany

California’s Unlearned Lesson From Germany

In the post-World War II era, German bureaucrats tallied billions in reparations owed to Holocaust survivors. Every Deutsche Mark and

November 21, 2025
Democrats have a Liberal Problem

Democrats have a Liberal Problem

A rather worrying sentiment has pervaded America in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. It has arisen as disheartened

November 20, 2025
A Faraway Rebel Group Upped Their Game Enough to Hurt the Average American

A Faraway Rebel Group Upped Their Game Enough to Hurt the Average American

Despite the world being more connected than ever, much international conflict feels disconnected from people’s day-to-day lives when it has

November 19, 2025
The Rise of Developing Nations from the Chinese Net Decline

The Rise of Developing Nations from the Chinese Net Decline

As cranes dotted skylines across Nairobi, Colombo, and Karachi in 2013, China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) had sprung

November 19, 2025
The End of Ideology, the Rise of Identity

The End of Ideology, the Rise of Identity

In 1989, Francis Fukuyama suggested that history had reached its end, not because events would cease, but because humanity had

November 18, 2025
The Dystopian Spiral of Third-Country Deportations

The Dystopian Spiral of Third-Country Deportations

Shuttled out of countries under mysterious circumstances, dropped off in foreign states, and left with little legal recompense, the story

November 18, 2025
Remembering the City of Darkness

Remembering the City of Darkness

Near downtown Hong Kong, about a kilometer away from where Prince Edward Road East crosses the Kai Tak River, lies

November 18, 2025
Turning Point USA, November 10th, 2025

Turning Point USA, November 10th, 2025

On Monday November 10, Turning Point USA had its final stop of a 2025 tour on campus at UC Berkeley.

November 17, 2025
David Oppenheimer on the Importance of Diversity & the War on DEI

David Oppenheimer on the Importance of Diversity & the War on DEI

With the recent suppression of DEI initiatives by the Trump administration and a war on diversity, Berkeley Law professor David

November 17, 2025
Seizing the Means of Electrification in California

Seizing the Means of Electrification in California

The typical scheme for electric utilities places customers in one of two bins: investor-owned or city-owned. There is a perennial

November 14, 2025
The New “Clear and Present Danger” to the United States is Trumpist Aggression

The New “Clear and Present Danger” to the United States is Trumpist Aggression

On Sep. 1, 2025, a U.S. Navy combat aircraft illegally sunk a ship in international waters off the coast of

November 14, 2025
Is Political Violence Ever Okay?

Is Political Violence Ever Okay?

Slavery in the United States was a violent regime built on the systemic dehumanization of enslaved Black people. White slaveholders

November 8, 2025
Netanyahu Faces the World, and the World Walks Out

Netanyahu Faces the World, and the World Walks Out

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Sep. 26, 2025, symbolism

November 8, 2025
Geopolitical Tug-of-War: Moldova Decides Between an EU or Russian Future

Geopolitical Tug-of-War: Moldova Decides Between an EU or Russian Future

Between Romania and Ukraine, a tiny country in Eastern Europe is choosing its path for the future in historic parliamentary

November 7, 2025
San Francisco Fails to Meet the Tenderloin Where They Are At

San Francisco Fails to Meet the Tenderloin Where They Are At

San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood harbors the weight of the city’s ongoing drug and homelessness crisis, and the City and County

November 7, 2025
San Francisco’s Fleet Week Should Have Been Cancelled

San Francisco’s Fleet Week Should Have Been Cancelled

The ongoing federal government shutdown threatened to cancel San Francisco’s annual celebration of the United States military. But with the

November 7, 2025
Diplomacy as Performance in Trump’s Saudi Strategy

Diplomacy as Performance in Trump’s Saudi Strategy

Unlike most U.S. presidents who traditionally make their first foreign trip to Canada or Mexico, Donald Trump broke precedent in

November 6, 2025
Carceral Muscle Memory: How LA Has Failed Its Pursuits of Criminal Justice

Carceral Muscle Memory: How LA Has Failed Its Pursuits of Criminal Justice

The LA County Sheriff’s Department has over a decade of reported “gangs” that physically abuse inmates. In 2011, ACLU Southern

November 6, 2025
Caught in the Crossfire: UC Berkeley and the Federal War on Higher Education

Caught in the Crossfire: UC Berkeley and the Federal War on Higher Education

At the crossroads of politics and pedagogy, the Department of Education has become a focal point of national controversy under

November 6, 2025
Zen Buddhism In The Name Of Corporate America

Zen Buddhism In The Name Of Corporate America

The road on Tiananmen Square is gray, but every once in a while, it will turn green. And if you

November 5, 2025