In December 1959, New Yorkers were met with the curious scene of Soviet soldiers on 47th Street and a new landmark in Turtle Bay. There, they saw a 13-foot-tall figure heaving downwards, striking a sword into a plow. The bronze sculpture, “Let Us Beat Swords Into Ploughshares” by Evgeniy Vuchetich, was a gift from the […]
Tag: International Norms
Can the United States Defend Its Allies in East Asia?
Lately, tensions between the United States and China have been heating up. With a raging trade war, increasingly-scrutinized Chinese investments, Chinese companies banned from the United States and even talk of conflict, it is no wonder that many are starting to wonder if a new Cold War has begun. Nowhere in the world has this […]
When Universalism Met Culture
As I read the story of Aasia Bibi, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who unintentionally poisoned and killed 17 members of her family in her attempt to escape the prospect of an arranged marriage, I wonder how many South Asian women have contemplated the same. As a South Indian woman myself, talk of my marriage is […]
The Waning Hermit Kingdom (Part II): The Challenges of Korean Reunification
In January 2014, the North Korean government supposedly announced that it had successfully landed a man on the sun. However, contrary to such macho announcements from government mouthpieces, the sun is beginning to set for the backwater Hermit Kingdom. Continued famine, declining international aid, and increased dissemination of non-governmental information (discussed in Part I) have […]
The Waning Hermit Kingdom (Part I): A Faltering Kim-Regime
When tensions rose along the Korean Peninsula this past August, it was not military provocation, but South Korean speakers blaring anti-North Korean propaganda that spurred Pyongyang to declare a quasi-state of war. The recent clash between the Koreas involved their first major armed encounter in five years. However, unlike previous military aggression from the Hermit […]