Governance, Democracy & Foreign Policy
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The Carney Doctrine: How Middle Powers Navigate a Weaponized Order
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At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, two very different worlds were described. One came from Donald Trump. He spoke of America as an indispensable power, hinted again at acquiring Greenland, and told his audience that allies such as Canada owed their survival to U.S. generosity. The other…
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More than a Band-Aid: Why Foreign Aid Must Evolve
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If you were born in the year 1820, your odds of living in extreme poverty, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 per day in today’s dollars, were greater than 75%. Today, that likelihood is just 10%. The world has made significant improvements in quality of life over the past…
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Between Law and Legitimacy: The Capture of Nicolás Maduro
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At 4:21 a.m. EST on January 3, a message appeared on the White House’s official X account that shook the international community. The message stated: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela,” adding that President Nicolás Maduro, “along with his wife,” had been…
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North America in Transition: The Tariff Showdown and What it Means for the Future
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The North American trade relationship faces a major test. In early 2025, President Trump announced tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, citing irregular immigration, drug trafficking, and trade imbalances. Mexico faces a 25% tariff on all goods, while Canadian oil and energy exports endure a 10% tariff. These actions…
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How the Supreme Court’s decision on Skrmetti may impact Bostock and the overall future of trans rights in America.
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In June 2025, the Supreme Court quietly let a dangerous precedent take hold. By allowing Tennessee to enforce Senate Bill 1 (SB1), later referred to as Skrmetti, a law banning doctors from providing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to transgender minors, the court did more than greenlight discrimination. It…
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Minorities: Strangers within their own country
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On Oct. 7, 2024, the 10th anniversary of my father’s passing, I yearned to connect with my older sister in Bangladesh. Unable to visit our parents’ graves herself, my sister arranged for someone to light candles in their memory. However, the images she sent me depicted not only the illuminated…
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Manipur Burning: India’s Silent Crisis the World Must Not Ignore
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The adage, “You can’t expect a new destination by walking the same path,” resonates deeply with the ongoing tragedy in Manipur, a northeastern Indian state that shares a nearly 400-kilometer border with Myanmar. Since 2023, the region has been engulfed in relentless ethnic violence, tearing apart the fragile social fabric…
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BRICS and the Shift Away from Dollar Dependence
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For nearly a century, the U.S. dollar has dominated global trade and finance, accounting for 59% of global foreign exchange reserves as of 2024 (IMF, 2024). In response to this enduring dominance, BRICS — an alliance of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — is…
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From Resistance to Reshaping: The Right’s Transformation of Federal Bureaucracy
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When historians examine pivotal transitions in American governance, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal stands as perhaps the most consequential transformation of the federal government’s role in American life. Yet nearly a century later, the American right has undergone its own transition—from a movement defined primarily by opposition to expansive government…
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Inside Trump’s Ukraine Gambit
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In the last few months, President Trump has gone from labeling Ukrainian President Zelensky a “dictator,” to shouting at him in front of an open forum in the Oval Office, to pausing all U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, to granting Golden Visas to Russian Oligarchs. Commentators have offered convoluted theories…
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The Democratic Party Has a Working Class Problem
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The Democratic Party brand is in crisis. A recent NBC poll reports the party’s favorability rating at a record low of 27 percent, marking a nadir that dates back to 1990. This polling follows the Democratic coalition fraying in November’s election as many working-class nonwhite voters defected from their ranks…