![Proponents of closing the prison at Guantanamo demonstrate in front of the White House [Photo Credit: Greg Foster/flickr/cc]](../../wp-content/uploads/2016/03/gitmo-220x126.jpg)
President Obama recently presented a nine-page plan to Congress outlining his goal of closing Guantanamo Bay detention center and ideas for relocation of remaining detainees. According to this plan, 35 of the 91 current detainees would be transferred to foreign countries. The other 56 detainees would be sent to a variety of prisons and military…
On November 30, 2015, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board announced the decision to include China’s Renminbi into the Special Drawing Right Basket (SDR), effective October 2016. Created by the IMF in 1969 in the context of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system, SDR is an international reserve asset that helps its holder…
On October 29th, 2015, Beijing announced the nullification of the nigh universally loathed “One Child Policy” as part of the regime’s new Five Year Plan. Effective immediately, each couple will be allowed two children, from a statement by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The intended purpose of the policy course reversal is to counterbalance the…
![Barack Obama and Raúl Castro shake hands as they meet for the first time at the 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama [Photo Credit: Reuters]](../../wp-content/uploads/2015/12/image-resizer-220x126.jpg)
The current climate of United States-Cuban relations represents a marked departure from a historical trend of US imperialism, and it is this shift in tone that has successfully catalyzed the reestablishment of diplomatic relations and laid the foundations for their future development. Whether directly or indirectly, the US has exerted its influence over Cuba at…
In the fall of 2011, President Obama announced significant policy changes constituting a complete “rebalance” of defense resources and foreign policy interests to the Asia-Pacific region. Also known as the “Pivot to Asia,” these policy changes included intensified regional U.S. involvement in terms of military spending, military presence, foreign policy, and economic policy. During this…
The massive scale of the environmental disaster, which takes form in the transboundary haze pollution happening in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, has been dubbed a “crime against humanity”; though the fundamental cause for the persistent detrimental haze is the all-too-common domino effect of corruption in local politics. The haze has been an annual problem in Southeast…
![Macri celebrates winning enough votes to force Argentina into a runoff election [Photo Credit: AFP]](../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/arg-220x126.jpg)
This year marks an important point in Argentine history as current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner reaches the end of her two term limit and the country prepares to vote a new president into office. Nestor Kirchner, husband of Mrs. Kirchner, served as president prior to Mrs. Kirchner’s time in office. This year’s election will…
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, has sparked much controversy. Noticeably, instead of focusing on reducing tariffs, the TTIP proposes to align the U.S. and EU’s currently incompatible rules and regulations. Although opposition is voiced most loudly in several EU countries where…
![Egypt's al-Azhar Mosque [Photo Credit: Wikimedia/Diego Delso]](../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/pic-220x126.jpg)
The Egyptian government’s announcement last month that it would ban imams from running for political office was the latest in a series of policies aimed at increasing state control of religious institutions and figures. Since Sisi’s ascent to power, the government has taken a number of steps to curtail extremism and the influence of the…
For the past few years, our news headlines have been rife with stories detailing the migration of thousands of people fleeing repressive regimes, wars, violent armed groups, and economic strife. In light of the most recent and ongoing migration crisis in Europe, it is important to reflect on these recent migration and refugee crises that…