by THOMAS WEIL, ’22 Over the past several decades, polarization across the American political system, at the local, state, and national levels, has accelerated. There are various causes for this schism, one of which is gerrymandering. Gerrymandering – the drawing of a voting district in such a way as to favor
by JOSHUA ZAKHAROV, ’20 The big engine that just barely couldn’t. On June 8th, the Peak Pegasus, a U.S. cargo vessel carrying a shipment of soybeans, embarked from Seattle on a one-month voyage to the Chinese port of Dalian. On its way, however, the Peak Pegasus caught word
by JON HOFFMAN, George Mason University ’19 Introduction: “Stateless” vs “Refugee” vs “Stateless Refugee” The issues of statelessness and refugees represent serious challenges to the global community, with wide-reaching repercussions that affect both developed and developing nations. More than 12 million people around the world are considered stateless, while approximately
by DAVIS LARKIN, ’19 For the most part, the history of the world is a history of states struggling against each other. From the Punic Wars to the partitions of Poland to WWII, this struggle has usually manifested as states seeking to annex territories from each other. Historically, annexation is
by SURYA GOWDA, ’22 Western defenders of liberalism commonly claim that there is an impending backslide into authoritarianism in Eastern Europe. Many Western commentators hold that a rise in populist nationalism in Hungary and Poland, both previously considered poster children for successful post-communist democratization, demonstrates that these countries have turned
by DAVIS LARKIN, ’19 This past week, the Maroon and the Gate repeatedly clashed on an issue as near and dear to campus affairs as the geopolitics of the Arabian Peninsula. Atman Mehta wrote in the Maroon to criticize a number of articles published in the Gate as uncritically echoing
by MOLLY MCCAMMON, ’21 In the last few years, Nepal has generated billions of dollars in investments from its northern neighbor China. Trade between the two countries has grown from 108 million US dollars to 990 million dollars in the past decade alone, making China Nepal’s second-largest trading partner.
by MOLLY MCCAMMON, ’21 Turkey is in the midst of an economic crisis, with the lira down nearly 45 percent from the beginning of the year. [1] High inflation combined with President Erdogan’s stubborn insistence on keeping interest rates low have influenced the current crisis, causing Turks to fret
by JAKOB URDA, ’19 On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first orbital satellite. No less astounding was the R-7 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile which carried the small metal ball into space—capable of also delivering thermonuclear warheads to American cities. In launching the space race,
by JACK HAYNIE, ’20 The oil industry, like any other sector of the economy, is eternally at the mercy of technological change. Increasingly, petroleum has been pressured by changes to industries where it once was the unquestioned energy source of choice. Even where it is still used, innovations in fuel
by JACK HAYNIE, ’20 For decades, rising oil demand has been taken almost as a given by policymakers and private sector energy producers alike. Rhetoric about “peak oil,” from the 1970s onwards, has become a trope in popular discussions about the energy industry and resource management policy. The logic goes
by JOSH ZAKHAROV, ’20 In August 2016, Juan Manuel Santos, then President of Colombia, and Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, then leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), shook hands in Havana to seal an agreement that would end a civil conflict that had wreaked hundreds of thousands of casualties,