AnnaLisa Hamann Following months of negotiations surrounding the Compact of Free Association (COFA) renewal,[1] the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on January 12, 2023.[2] According to the U.S., the new MOU “confirms the shared desire to strengthen the special partnership between our nations.”[3] The…
Continue ReadingThorin Wenner On March 23, there were chaotic scenes in Paris as police clashed with anarchists and other protesters in the French capital.[1] This was the ninth successive day of protesting, and they were not just limited to Paris; train and air travel across the country were disrupted by protests.[2] The intensity of the government…
Continue ReadingLaura Phillipp Tucker Did Lord Elgin know he was creating a centuries-long strife when he took The Parthenon Marbles—a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures—from the Parthenon in Athens to London in 1799?[1] The marble statues currently housed in the British Museum are from the 5th Century B.C. and were part of a “frieze that ran…
Continue ReadingSuzanne Mead A small island country off of the coast of India, Sri Lanka rarely makes U.S. headlines.[1] Yet, a majority of people in the U.S. agree that democracy is the best system of government and with democracy comes elections of a country’s leaders.[2] The country of Sri Lanka has a parliamentarian system that includes…
Continue ReadingJoanna Curry Following the lead of U.S. foreign policy and consistently with over 30 other states, in 2017 Minnesota passed a law that prohibits the state government from contracting with any entity that participates in an anti-Israeli movement known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions).[1] The Minnesota bill passed with bipartisan support, but over the…
Continue ReadingFunsho Delé Nwabuzor The recent international incident regarding the purported Chinese spy balloon that flew over United States territory has been closely watched and commented on by international news media organizations and even other authors in this journal. There remain debates, however, regarding the height to which airspace remains sovereign over the land or sea…
Continue ReadingJosh Mone Background In 2010, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the then-Prime Minister of Qatar, traveled to France to pitch the almost fantastical idea of hosting the world’s largest sporting event.[1] A few months later, despite lacking any meaningful soccer tradition or even basic soccer infrastructure such as stadiums, the international governing body of soccer…
Continue ReadingAndrew Y. Kim It is perhaps widely recognized and supported by international law and humanitarian principles that individuals forced to flee their homeland due to armed conflict or war should be granted refugee status. It is difficult to dispute that these individuals have often endured unimaginable hardships and atrocities in their home countries, and it…
Continue ReadingEmma Wittmer At the core of the global economy is a public trust in central banks to execute monetary policy fairly and without bias. In turn, public trust allows central banks to execute effective monetary and fiscal policy. Today, as central banks raise interest rates to dampen rising inflation, central banks are drawing more attention…
Continue ReadingOlivia Gulley On January 31, 2020, The United Kingdom officially left the European Union.[1] During Withdrawal Agreement negotiations between the UK and the EU, the Northern Ireland Protocol—a trade agreement involving the goods crossing the board between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland—was created.[2] The Northern Ireland Protocol has been a source of tension…
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