June 20 is the United Nations’ World Refugee Day, an effort to commemorate and recognize the millions of human beings across the globe that have been pushed out of their homes as a result of various conflicts and wars. This year’s World Refugee Day serves as a grim reminder of the numerous ongoing political and … Read more
When thousands of Salvadorans crammed into the Stadium Cuscatlán in San Salvador the day they inaugurated Mauricio Funes as their new president in 2009, their biggest cheers were reserved for former guerrillas of the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN). Funes had officially assumed the presidency in a staid ceremony earlier on the … Read more
Iraq isn’t South Vietnam, but some of the same dynamics are driving U.S. policy A relentless enemy, thought vanquished, returns with a devastating offensive. An American-trained security force splinters and collapses with embarrassing swiftness. The threatened government pleads for U.S. intervention to save the day. This was South Vietnam, April of 1975. After a whirlwind … Read more
Despite the fact that monarchies are found throughout the world, they often seem to be a uniquely European phenomenon and a distinctly American obsession;: as Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington (and descendent of British nobles) aptly sums up in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, “‘Oh, my God, you’re the son of a duke!’ … Read more
Perhaps one of the most fascinating political and cultural disparities between the United States and many other places in the world is the way in which the public treats the private lives of its leaders. The degree of importance that people and media seem to give to public representatives’ private affairs varies tremendously from place … Read more
First elected in 2006, Mr. Abe, at age 52, was Japan’s youngest Prime Minister since 1941, but he faced a plethora of troubles during his initial tenure. His Agricultural Minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, committed suicide after he was connected to the misappropriation of government funds. Matsuoka’s replacement, Norihiko Akagi, resigned two months later due to similar … Read more
In October 2013, the Swiss People’s Party proposed a referendum to implement immigration quotas. Embodying anti-immigration and anti-E.U. sentiments that contradict the traditionally pro-immigration European Union, the Swiss People’s Party cites Switzerland’s inability to maintain its influxes of immigrants as justification for the measure. More specifically, supporters of the Swiss People’s Party harbor growing concerns … Read more
Citizenship reform has been a top priority of the German legislature since it took office in September 2013. Talks among the governing coalition have been ongoing in the six months since its election, though no laws have passed yet. The outcome of the debate, which has largely focused on dual citizenship provisions, will particularly affect … Read more
When Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto proclaimed, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant,” he was referring to the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today, Japan’s sleeping giant is China, but the nation’s recent aggressive actions suggest China, too, has woken up. This past November, China created an … Read more
Reminiscing on the past 60 years of global economic and political history, South Korea seems remarkably successful. In this time span, it has pulled itself up by its bootstraps to become a major player in both international trade and East Asian geopolitics, not to mention a cornerstone of 21st century global popular culture that goes beyond … Read more