In March 2015, the unexpected newly elected president of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, stated that the national anthem could be sung in Tamil at official and institutional events. For anyone alien to life on the teardrop island, this announcement may have come as a surprise since, after all, Tamil and Sinhala are the two official […] More
In May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Britain to return the Chagos Archipelago, a cluster of islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa. The resolution endorsed an International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion that had been […] More
For much of the past decade, radical right-wing populism in the Netherlands has largely been associated with Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV). Following in the footsteps of the late Pim Fortuyn, Wilders established himself as one of Western Europe’s most outspoken promoters of anti-Islamic rhetoric, whose often outrageous and inflammatory rants exerted […] More
Dr. Jerome Adams, the surgeon general of the United States, made an announcement on March 23 warning Americans of the mounting death rate likely to occur over the next few weeks as COVID-19 spreads throughout the country. He remarked that “this is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment.” By these references, […] More
Around the world, the news agenda is dominated by the coronavirus and the policy responses to it. Naturally, most of the attention is paid to things like how many people are dying and when the various lockdowns can be lifted. However, in every industry, there is a story to be told about the impact of […] More
In the coming weeks, crucial decisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are likely to be made. After three rounds of elections and difficult tactical maneuvers, a coalition government under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recently sworn in. The coalition agreement between the main partners — Likud and the Blue and White party — stipulates that, […] More
In the midst of the unhappiness of the coronavirus pandemic, what better response to the gloom than to focus on happiness? Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the president of Mexico, has found an appropriate answer to the anguish and fear that have accompanied the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. It may […] More
Donald J. Trump secured the presidency of the United States through a victory in a contentious election. His win was owed to the US Electoral College — not the popular vote. This was the case when George W. Bush won the electoral college over Al Gore’s popular win in 2000 that triggered a contentious recount in […] More
