Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government of Bangladesh delivers an address titled, "Girls Lead the Way," in Columbia University's Low Library

To 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.

Today, 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.

In 1997, government representatives from 170 states convened, and negotiated their way to form a single plan of action: the Kyoto Protocol. The Protocol called for thirty-eight states to reduce greenhouse gases emissions to 5 percent below their emission levels in 1990 between 2008 and 2012.

The 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.

Senior Thesis Series (4)

On 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.

Nigeria’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.

Seventy 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.

Pundits 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.

Jenny Yeji Yoo explores reforms in North Korea.

Chinese participation in the Burmese economy—and civil conflict—at the people’s expense has delegitimized Beijing in the eyes of Burmese citizens. China has argued it is providing employment and crucial infrastructure to a truly underdeveloped region. However, ethnic minority activists are skeptical that the benefits of China’s economic activity in Burma will trickle down as far as officials claim.

China Rewrites Its Property Laws

Maren Killackey surveys the Singapore Supreme Court's recent ruling on two cases that challenged the constitutionality of the country's colonial-era anti-gay law.

Cosmas Sibindi predicts that recent American inaction on the global stage will lead to China's rise to power.

Maren Killackey's latest essay for CPR

Maren Killackey's latest essay for CPR, on Shinzo Abe's economic policies.

Rekha Kennedy explores what the future might hold for the 'Umbrella Revolution' in Hong Kong

Asha Banerjee braved Penn Station and MSG to report on Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to the U.S.