The upheaval in the Ukraine is rapidly escalating; we've compiled the best thinking on the topic to help you keep up
Read MoreHer Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government of Bangladesh delivers an address titled, "Girls Lead the Way," in Columbia University's Low Library
Read MoreBy recognizing how domestic considerations play a part in Iranian foreign policy, we can better understand why their pronouncements seem to be at odds with their commitments.
Read MoreTo be sure, the headline “Malaysian Court Upholds Opposition Leader’s Sodomy Conviction” is not necessarily shocking in its own right. This is, after all, the era in which political figures being caught up in purportedly lurid sex scandals is now almost cliché.
Read MoreCarmen Aristegui, considered the most famous newscast journalist in Mexico, once hosted a daily morning radio talk show followed devoutly by millions of middle-class Mexicans. Her personal brand of investigatory journalism was markedly different from the standard of Mexican media: aggressive, probing—if sometimes lacking in reportorial rigor.
Read MoreToday, violations of medical neutrality constitute a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Yet, as an international norm, the principle has had minimal influence mitigating violence in the Syrian conflict.
Read MoreThe Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched on October 24, 2014, is the latest item on China’s Silk Road agenda that reflects the country’s increasing willingness to establish financial instruments for itself and by itself.
Read MoreSenior Thesis Series (5)
Read MoreSenior Thesis Series (4)
Read MoreSenior Thesis Series (2)
Read MoreOn Thursday morning, March 5, South Koreans were in consternation at the sight of the bleeding American ambassador, Mark W. Lippert, played and replayed on TV. The attack occurred at a restaurant at the Sejong Center for performing arts, where Lippert was to deliver an address for the breakfast event sponsored by the organization Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation.
Read MoreNigeria’s army has been long recognized as one of Africa’s most well equipped and organized, but events over the past years including its failure to quell Boko Haram have called this into question. The case of Nigeria echoes that of the Pakistan and the Islamists in the Waziristan tribal regions, with both states having effectively lost control over large portions of their territory to Islamic extremist groups.
Read MoreEuropean countries have traditionally had political parties that range from the very liberal to the very conservative, stretching further in both directions than, say, the two political parties in the United States. Historically, the more conservative parties remained firmly on the fringes of society and did not gained much power politically. The recent changes in the ethnic distribution of European population, mainly due to a massive influx of immigration, have popularized the furthest-right parties, most of which have an aggressive anti-immigration stance.
Read MoreThe Armenian Genocide–as these events would later be known–is a lasting source of contention between Armenians and Turks. Armenians actively remember the Meds Yeghern and some use the historical event to bolster legal claims against the successor state of Ottoman Turkey. On the other hand, the modern Turkish state actively ignores these grimmer portions of its earlier history, leveraging its substantial geopolitical clout to cloud the historical record documenting the horrific crimes that occurred within its borders.
Read MoreWhile Jordan continues to consolidate the Hashemite political rule over the country, and to assert its stable position amidst regional conflict, it is also necessary to consider key aspects of the economy like energy security, and to move towards a more self-sufficient electricity and fuel economy.
Read MoreSeventy years have passed since the division of Korea and the Northern regime has now reached its third successor, Kim Jong-Un. Many believed that the young leader Kim Jong-Un would not be able to hold together the isolated, poverty stricken, and economically stagnated North Korea. Until last year, talks about an imminent reunification were prevalent in South Korea, attested by South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s emphasis on reunification in her 2014 New Year’s press conference.
Read MorePundits list South Korea’s close economic ties with China and need for China’s cooperation in dealing with North Korea as possible reasons for this unprecedented closeness. But another factor unrelated to the economy or security is likely prompting this intimacy—namely, the two countries’ strong sense of solidarity as victims of Japanese imperialism. Beginning in 2013, the tension between South Korea and Japan over unresolved historical controversies has risen, culminating in the suspension of dialogue between the highest-level leaders.
Read MoreMuch of the media frenzy surrounding the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has been a product of intense focus on the grotesque symptoms of the disease. The media has also fixated on the chaos that ensued in the most deeply affected countries. Reports have described hospitals overrun with Ebola patients, with other important aspects of medical caregiving such as maternal healthcare and AIDS treatment left unattended, and dead bodies abandoned out of fear of contamination in the streets of Freetown, Liberia. This coverage has unfortunately failed to call attention to the many factors that contributed to Ebola’s rapid spread, including the weak initial response to the disease.
Read MoreTen years ago, hardly anyone would have been able to predict that a new era of relations between Cuba and the United States would start with Netflix. And yet, last month’s expansion of the American on-demand streaming service into Cuba signified the first step of a brighter future between two old North American rivals. For the better part of the 20th century, the bitterly strained relations between Cuba and the United States constituted the prime regional rivalry in North America. The December 2014 normalization of relations between the two nations looks to usher in a new age of economic and diplomatic prosperity. Despite receiving conservative backlash for his actions, Barack Obama, by reestablishing diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, has taken long overdue steps to bolster a potentially crucial regional ally.
Read MoreJenny Yeji Yoo explores reforms in North Korea.
Read More