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"The World's Coolest Dictator": Bukele's Gang Violence Crackdown in El Salvador

The Twitter/X bio of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, as of December 2025, reads “Philosopher King.” In the past, it read, “The world’s coolest dictator.” This unabashed public recognition of ...
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Beneath the Surface: The Geopolitical Implications of Shifting Deep Sea Mining Regulation

China is increasingly motivated to lead the energy transition for key strategic reasons. China’s investment in a future without fossil fuels can be explained by China’s desire to both decrease its ...
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Township Rebellion: The Zapatista Movement, Three Decades Later

“It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” A greater number of migrants in Chiapas means more revenue for DTOs, more strain on the state’s resources, and more scrutiny from the ...
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Unfinished Business in the Balkans: Decades After the Collapse of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo Question Remains Unsolved

It was on February 17, 2008 that the Republic of Kosovo declared its independence. However, as its inhabitants celebrate the seventeenth anniversary of statehood, the situation on the ground remains ...
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Going Green in Copenhagen: Denmark’s Climate Diplomacy

Imagine that you are a tourist, and you are visiting a new, exciting place on a tight budget. Luckily, the city in which you are traveling allows you to earn free museum visits, meals, kayak tours, ...
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Bittersweet: The Harsh Realities of Chocolate Production in West Africa

Every year, US citizens collectively consume 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate. While this sweet and indulgent treat is a staple for Valentine’s Day and Halloween, its colorful and shiny packaging ...
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A Dispute for the Decades: The Russo-Japanese Struggle for the Kuril Islands

Russia and Japan have yet to sign a formal peace treaty to end World War II. Both nations’ reluctance boils down to their dispute over a string of islands stretching from Hokkaido, Japan’s ...
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Mountains of Resistance: The Past and Present of Tibet’s Quest for Independence

A leader in exile. Children forced into cultural assimilation. A barrage of failed protests. For more than 50 years, China, a global superpower with a population over 400 times that of Tibet, has ...
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China and Russia: A New Cold War?

In 2023, trade between China and Russia reached US$240 billion, a 26.3 percent increase from the previous year and more than double from 2018 (US$107 billion). Collaborations like the 2012 ...
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The Misunderstood Rise of Anti-Tourism in Europe

The dichotomy of different individuals’ experiences when a popular city surges with tourism is striking. For the vacationer, the experience is full of excitement: a chance to forget the tensions in ...
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For Sale: The Pervasive Organ Trade in Asia

Have you ever thought about selling your kidney? A piece of your liver? For many people in Asia, these difficult questions are an everyday reality. Organ trading is a huge industry. Including illegal ...