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U.S.
Introduction
After Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat and the Capitol insurrection that followed, it seemed likely that the Republican Party would turn to a new presidential candidate in 2024. Yet today, President Trump sits in the Oval Office for his second term. Numerous factors contributed to his political revival, but his campaign’s emotionally charged rhetoric was th...
U.S.
Most Americans recall learning cursive in elementary school, carefully tracing each letter over and over until they eventually developed a rhythm. But what was once a foundational skill and rite of passage is now in danger of disappearing, and with it, a crucial piece of our cultural heritage. Cursive refers to writing with looped, interconnected letters or characters, and appears across almost ev...
U.S.
On March 15, a U.S. plane carrying 137 immigrants landed at a mega-prison in El Salvador [1]. The government identified the plane’s passengers as members of the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, though their removal was far from straightforward. Just hours before the flight departed, a District Court judge ruled the deportations temporarily illegal. Less than a day before, the reinstatem...
U.S.
In early April 2025, the Trump Administration sent a letter to Harvard University’s President, Dr. Alan Garber. Trump’s letter demanded numerous institutional changes, threatening to revoke Harvard’s $2.3 billion in federal funding if they did not comply [1]. The letter touches on numerous hot-button issues—ranging from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to recent bouts...
U.S.
As a consequence of increasing reliance on technology, citizens across the globe have expressed concern with the extent to which governments and corporations can access their digital communications and data. Reservations are particularly pronounced in the United States, where the nation's libertarian ethos clashes with a simultaneous desire to prioritize citizen safety through significant inve...
World
Since President Trump’s first term, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has called the United States “not just a partner but a friend.” At their 2019 bilateral meeting, Trump returned the gesture by praising Bukele’s handling of MS-13, an international gang with close ties to both El Salvador and the U.S. [1]. In recent months, Salvadoran-U.S. relations have been put unde...
World
European leaders continue to painstakingly work towards a ceasefire in Ukraine and reaffirm their commitment to the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), a very different story is playing out, with European leaders turning a blind eye to Rwanda’s plundering of the country’s natural resources through t...
World
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a permanent departure from one of the key assumptions underlying Europe’s post-war security architecture. For the first time in seven decades, high-intensity inter-state conflict returned to Europe, a possibility most policymakers had mentally relegated to the continent’s troubled past. In Berlin, the psychological shock was immediate. In a spe...
World
In recent years, the world has witnessed what Professor Rob Ford of the University of Manchester called “the greatest wave of anti-incumbent voting ever seen” [1]. In 2024, voters turned away incumbent parties in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, South Africa, and South Korea [2]. Despite some governments changing from right-wing to left-wing, more often than not, th...
World
After eight straight years of fertility rate decline from 1.24 children per woman in 2014 to a record low of 0.74 in 2023, South Korea finds itself in the midst of one of the world’s worst fertility crises. In 2024, South Korea’s fertility rate increased to 0.75, the first rise the country has seen in nearly a decade [1]. Despite this improvement, South Korea’s fertility rate rem...