Mugabe's Legacy

November 21, 2017 marked the end of Robert Mugabe’s three-and-a-half-decade tenure as the Zimbabwean head of state. One of the most important questions surrounding the fall of Mugabe is how a man who was once seen and revered as a central figure in Zimbabwe’s independence movement came to be deposed by his own military.

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The Maldives: An Emerging Geopolitical Flashpoint

On February 5th, 2018, the President of the Republic of Maldives declared a 15-day state of emergency after the country’s Supreme Court ordered him to release a number of opposition political members that he had imprisoned.Beyond the image of an idyllic tropical paradise, the Maldives has firmly been placed on the map as an increasingly important geopolitical area in the Indian Ocean.

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Winter Olympics: Bridging the North and South

The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Games in South Korea is more than just another major sporting event for the host country. This February, South Korea marches into the Winter Olympics hand in hand with the North, after more than 20 years since the two countries last competed together as a united team in a major sporting event.  

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Egypt and Israel Increase Security Cooperation

Recent reports by the New York Times and the Washington Post have revealed that the Egyptian and Israeli governments have been secretly working together on counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai Peninsula.  The fact that the Egyptian and Israeli security apparatuses have been cooperating in recent years has never really been a secret, but the surprising thing about these reports is just how close that relationship has become.

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China: The New World Leader

While the rest of the developed world is gravitating away from the idea of an integrated global market, China is leaning into it. The Belt and Road Initiative is a call back to the age when China ran the world’s economy, an age the world may be about to witness again.

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The Hmong Crisis: The Secret Tragedy of Laos

Among the silent ongoing conflicts in Southeast Asia, the Hmong problem in Laos remains as one of the longest unsolved crises in the region. Despite the magnitude of the bloodshed, the international community has not found a solution to the Hmong problem, and today many members of this ethnic are still struggling against governmental persecution.

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Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong

Until recently, Hong Kong’s middle and upper classes lived in utopic ignorance regarding the welfare of foreign domestic helpers. However, news articles exposing the systematic abuse of foreign domestic workers published in recent years have opened Pandora’s Box.

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Hakka Revivalism: A Story of Language Conservation in the 21st Century

In December 2017, Taiwan (Republic of China) became the first government to recognize Hakka as an official national language. For the Hakka, a ‘guest people’ without a homeland, preserving its language remains the most vital aspect of continuing the group’s culture, which has played such an indispensable role in shaping China and Southeast Asia in recent history.

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The Philippines: The Bastion of Southeast Asian Jihadism

Unfortunately, terrorism has become one of the major transnational threats of our times. The rise and expansion of groups like Al-Qaeda or ISIS, and the international scope of their attacks have harmed multiple societies, regardless of their location. However, Southeast Asia has emerged as a significant bastion for terrorists, and most specifically jihadists. Today, their safest haven in the region has become The Philippines, a country whose recent history has been marked by the attacks of different terrorist groups. However, what is the reason behind this geostrategic choice of Asian jihadists? What role does terrorism play in the Philippines today?

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Kiribati: Where to go from Here?

As the issue of climate change continues to grow each year, low-lying coastal countries such as the pacific nation of Kiribati may become completely uninhabitable within decades. But then, where do the people go?

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The United Nations' systemic failure to respond to humanitarian crises

Since the inception of the United Nations in 1945, the maintenance of international peace and security has been its top mission and central theme. However, recent history has proved that the organization, in its current form, is impotent at responding to massive abuses of human rights especially when it comes to genocides and ethnic cleansing.

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Detonating the South Pacific: Beaches, Bombs and the Movement for Denuclearisation

While 2017 has seen the resurfacing of the chronic nuclear question plaguing international affairs, it also brings forth a hopeful reminder — the 30th anniversary of New Zealand’s stringent nuclear-free foreign policy. The South Pacific has proven that there remains a very real alternative to atomic diplomacy, and should be recognized for its efforts in advocating for communication and diplomacy rather than open atomic deterrence.

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Mugabe’s Fall from Grace: A New Era for Africa

After 35 years of rule over Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship over the former British colony came to an unceremonious end November 21st after a military coup removed him from power.Though Zimbabwe’s economy is still in ruins and its population nursing wounds from Mugabe’s brutal crackdowns, this is no doubt a new era for the country and Africa.

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Climate Change: Actions Speak Louder than Words

We might know all the facts and all the necessary steps that need to be taken not to reach the 2°C threshold. But actually acting upon this knowledge is a whole different story. We need to understand the importance of nature and how people are affected by it: not just factually, but emotionally. In a globalized world, we need to extend our empathy to all corners of the earth. Climate change knows no circle nor national border.

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Egypt's Failed Counterterrorism Policy

This past Friday, Egyptians experienced the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history. To many, this latest tragedy is yet another example of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s failed counterterrorism strategy.

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