by Ezra Max “The sharpness of the tongue defeats the sharpness of the warriors. Language is better than weapons.” —Rwandan proverb[1] Preface In 1995 Susan Rice (then the National Security Council’s director for international organizations and peacekeeping), acknowledging the tepid nature of America’s response to the atrocities
by ZACH WEHRLI Over the last year and a half, the rapid and unanticipated popularity of Donald Trump, now the President of the United States, has captivated the world. President Trump faced criticism on many fronts throughout the campaign, with many of the most common and persuasive criticisms levied against
by KENT KELLER During the Democratic Presidential Primaries, Bernie Sanders made the argument that climate change has been one of the drivers of the Syrian conflict and that climate change has, more broadly, contributed to geopolitical instability and terrorism throughout the world. [1] The issue of climate and conflict has
by GABRIEL DAVIS Part I: Destabilizing the Old Narrative We’ll be fighting in the street With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgment of all wrong They decide and the shotgun sings
by ISAAC TRONCOSO Whether one points to an interconnected economic system which binds together the fates of faraway nations, ideological winds contradicting a historical narrative of human progress towards globalization, the fracturing of states’ spheres of influence, or an arguable decrease in relevance of states themselves, it is clear that
by EZRA MAX Review: The Trump Phenomenon and the Future of US Foreign Policy (September 2016, published by World Scientific.) Since President-Elect Donald Trump first announced his candidacy in June 2015, pundits and analysts have often struggled to untangle his rhetoric and pin down his foreign policy views. In hindsight,
by ISAAC TRONCOSO The history of Eastern Europe since 1989 has been a tale of rapidly alternating optimism and cynicism, recovery and setbacks, all framed by the pursuit of a path out of the Soviet political and economic model. The smaller Eastern European states suffered from unique challenges, as their
by KENT KELLER Last December, 195 nations adopted the Paris climate agreement, a UN treaty that many are hailing as the turning point for global efforts to address the threat of climate change. The agreement acts as a framework in which nations pledge to reduce or curtail their greenhouse emissions
GABRIEL DAVIS In February 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, responding to Syria’s grisly civil war and the growing number of migrants it produced, “threw open [Germany’s] doors” to let in upwards of one million refugees.[1] Just nine months later, Paris exploded with the deadliest terror attacks on
by OLIVIA LIN After decades of a special relationship between the United States and Israel, maintained primarily by stable foreign aid and political support, the White House has begun to voice frustration over Israel’s lack of cooperation and action. In October of last year, the White House’s passive-aggressive
by JOSEPH LOCASCIO Fascism gave way to the combined might of democracy and communism in World War II. Considering the vile nature of the Nazis’ regime, it is hardly surprising that their vision of modernity was not a long-lived one. Indeed, Jarausch concludes, in part for this reason, that it
by OLIVIA LIN Conventional scholarship, along with the Treaty of Versailles itself, have characterized Germany as one of the chief aggressors of World War I. In addition to the necessary historical conditions that set the stage for war, WWI could also be viewed as the culmination of a series of