One may argue that the winds of democratic change have finally reached the shores of Sub-Saharan Africa. But more importantly now, how can we create an electoral system which protects the rights, voices and needs of the despondent while still maintaining the legitimacy and the sanity of the electoral process?
Read MoreMugabe'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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreWinter 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.
Read MoreEgypt 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.
Read MoreChina: 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.
Read MoreAirplanes and International Trade: The Boeing/Bombardier Dispute
When jetting around the world, air travelers typically associate their journey with how long the security line was, or how bland the airplane food. But little do passengers know, the real battle is between airplane makers as they vie for market shares.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreForeign 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.
Read MoreHakka 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.
Read MoreCyber Security and Warfare
The world has slowly descend back into a Cold War-era great power competition in cyberspace. The WannaCry attack is just one of the first consequences to be felt.
Read MoreThe 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?
Read MoreDeal Maker? Trump’s ignorance regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict
Despite declaring that he will give brokering a peace deal “one hell of a shot,” Trump has instead almost surely erased any hope of finding a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict during his tenure.
Read MoreGlobal Security Issues: The Yemeni Ordeal
Can the silence of the United Nations Security Council be attributed to its role in the events in Yemen?
Read MoreKiribati: 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?
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreDetonating 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.
Read MoreMugabe’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.
Read MoreClimate 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.
Read MoreEgypt'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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