World
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Sweden’s Unconventional Approach to Covid-19: What went wrong
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While most countries endured harsh lockdowns during March 2020, Swedes went on with their lives largely as before, indulging in nightlife, visiting elderly relatives, and so on. Government officials hoped that a large enough portion of the Swedish population would gain immunity to COVID-19, making the diseases’ spread less consequential.…
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The City Is Not Designed for Women
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As stated by author and feminist-issues researcher Caroline Criado-Perez, the world is designed mostly by men with mostly other men in mind. The gender-based gap in data has been known to exist for a long time, and male-biased data has affected the living experiences of women in oft-realized but nether-talked…
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Why Do People Forgive Corrupt Politicians?
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The case of Hilario Ramírez, a Mexican politician who, amid a reelection campaign admitted to having stolen from the treasury, “just a bit,” he argued, is more than a simple piece of Latin American political folklore. “Layín”—as Ramírez is also known—was mayor of San Blas, a costal Mexican city, from…
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Climate Change is Disproportionally Affecting Mental Health in Developing Countries
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Dharrnesha Inbah Rajah is a MA in International Development and Public Policy candidate at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Beyond witnessing one of the worst pandemics in modern times, 2020 was also the warmest year on record and saw horrifying wildfires from the U.S. to Australia.…
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Internet Access: Half the World Is Muted
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Eliana Fram is a MA in International Development and Policy Candidate at Harris School of Public Policy. The teacher points to the blackboard and asks emphatically, “What is an email?” She is asking not because her students do not know the answer, but because she wants them to answer using…
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Drug Cartels, Politics, and Violence in Mexico
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The strategic decision by Mexican drug cartels to assassinate local government officials and politicians in the past 15 years has been surprising, to say the least. Since the 1990s cartels understood that their success depended on remaining out of the spotlight, a position from which they could co-opt government authorities…
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Universal Cash Transfers in India: The Case for an Inclusive Growth Dividend
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The idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained traction over the past decade. While the idea of a basic income has existed since the American and French Revolutions, it has never been implemented on a country-wide level. Myriad questions remain on its execution: should it replace most or all…
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Brazil’s Environmental Downturn: A Tale of Many Cattle
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On September 28, Brazil’s National Environment Council (CONAMA), led by the Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, abolished Resolutions 302 and 303/2002. It established mangrove fields as Areas of Permanent Protection (APP). CONAMA will likely make a similar decision regarding the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland area located in southwest Brazil.…
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The Flournoy Doctrine: “Mend & Modernize.” Interview with former Undersecretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy
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Michèle Flournoy is widely rumored to be on the top of many lists to be the 28th United States Secretary of Defense when the Biden Administration takes over on January 20, 2021. She most certainly has the resume to sit in the seat: former Defense official in the Clinton and…
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How COVID-19 Could Reshape International Security Policy
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After the end of World War II, a network of international organizations was created to deal with what they determined at that time to be the biggest threats to global political stability. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established in 1949 as a means to protect member states from…
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Expanding Legal Protections for Climate Migrants
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In the past decade, the effects of climate change have resulted in the displacement of over 250 million people worldwide. The International Organization for Migration defines an environmental or climate migrant as a person who moves within their country or abroad “predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive change in…