Peace Keepers or Peace Destroyers: A Grim Look at the UN Blue Helmets in Haiti
By: Allison Guerra* The United Nations (UN) goal is to increase cooperation amongst countries, something that is accomplished by promoting peace, improving human rights, and increasing social and development programs. As a way to promote peace, the UN established...
Terror Strikes Sweden
By Ashley Stanislaus On Friday April 7, 2017, an attack took place on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), a busy shopping area of in Stockholm, Sweden. A hijacked beer truck was stolen around 3pm that afternoon and without any specific target driven through the shopping...
Executive Disorders
By J. K. Schmid Having promised to “drain the swamp” of Washington careerists and campaigning on conflicting foreign policy ideals and proposals, President of the United States Donald J. Trump appears to many pundits as unpredictable force from the Oval Office....
Keeping Hope Alive: Rethinking American Aid in Israel and Palestine
By: Usjid Hameed* US President Donald Trump’s joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 15th, 2017 caused confusion after he said “I’m looking at two-state and one-state… I like the one that both parties like. I’m very...
Islamophobia and the Rise of Right-Wing Conservativism
By: Andrew Burchett* With terrorism dominating mainstream media today, Western countries across the globe have seen a rise in islamophobia and increased right wing pressure to limit migration from Muslim-majority states into their home countries. In Canada, a group...
On Human Rights and The Handmaid’s Tale: A Dystopian Present
By: Dr. Molly Ruhlman, Political Science at Towson University* The debate about whether the new TV series, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” serves as a political comment on current American politics, or not, has already become stale. But there is so much more to take...
Rex Tillerson’s Collision Course with North Korea
By: Alison Keefner* Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is an unorthodox Secretary of State. That is what this country signed up for last November when it elected Donald Trump president. Last month, Secretary Tillerson toured Asia mostly under the radar and mostly...
Pakistan in the Middle East: A Policy of Pragmatism
By: Usjid Hameed* In March of 2017, news broke of Pakistan’s decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia’s southern border to protect against potential Houthi attacks from the failed state of Yemen. [1] The Houthis, a Shia insurgent group believed to be backed by...
Obama’s “Red Line” and Donald Trump’s Spine
By Slaton Evans* “We should stay the hell out of Syria, the ‘rebels’ are just as bad as the current regime. WHAT WILL WE GET FOR OUR LIVES AND $ BILLIONS? ZERO.”[i] Those were the words of Donald Trump via Twitter in June of 2013. Opinions and people change; can you...
The Global Gag Rule: Impacts on Gender Equality and Sustainable Development
By: Mackenzie Rice* On Monday, January 23rd 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would enforce a policy known as the Global Gag Rule. This policy means that international organizations that perform legal abortion services, promote the...
Erdogan in Turkey: A Dictatorship?
By: John Perry Muth* A failed coup in the Turkish capital of Istanbul last July may have had exactly the opposite effect of that desired. The coup saw a faction in the military try to seize control of the government, with the goal of establishing a new...
America First? The Trump Administration and North Korea
By: Jason Wolf* Over the course of his historic and electrifying 2016 Presidential Campaign, Donald Trump rallied the masses by pledging to put “America First”. Such a platform shocked U.S. allies, with some wondering whether or not the U.S. could be continued to be...
Russian Missile Deployments: Trump’s Dance with the Russian Bear
By: Alison Keefner* On February 14th, the New York Times reported that the Russian military had deployed two operational battalions of a new model of cruise missiles, one in south Russia at a missile testing site near the city of Volgograd and the other at an unknown...
America’s Greatest Threat
By: Mackenzie Rice* The United States of America is currently facing pressure to up its game in global leadership. The ongoing battle against the Islamic State and resulting refugee crisis, concerns about the growth of Russian influence, the rise of isolationism and...
Syrian Military Aid: Arming Moderate Rebels or Radical Terrorists?
By: Ruhley Michaelides* Any sane American would agree that neither the private nor public funding of terrorist organizations is beneficial. Yet, tell any taxpayers that they have been doing just that and they would likely look at you with mixed expressions of...
Consequences of Air Pollution in France
By: Allison Guerra* Air pollution in France is causing not only national health issues, but also major international environmental issues. Although pollutants have been a problem for France since the industrial revolution, they recently have been brought to the...
Cuba after Castro: Progressing Past a Legacy
By: Slaton Evans* On Thursday, November 25th, 2016, Cuba’s once-revolutionary turned totalitarian dictator, Fidel Castro, passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones in his Santiago De Cuba home. In the wake of Castro’s death, many gathered in Havana to honor...
Dog Bites Back: The Threat of Political Dissent in Hong Kong
By: Ed Lopez-Perez* Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching will need to find new jobs. The young lawmakers have Hong Kong’s High Court to thank, which on November 15 ruled that their oaths of swearing-in – seasoned with a healthy dose of inflammatory separatist rhetoric –...
