Over the past few years, Myanmar, also known as Burma, has repeatedly made international headlines for its transition towards democracy. As opposed to the secretive, mercurial military junta that had been in power from the 1950s until 2011, Burma’s current government has seemingly embraced democratic ideals and cultivated more positive relationships with Western nations, including […]
Archives for October 2014
Sustainable Development Goals and the Private Sector
Saving the world is going to cost us a lot of money. Many people working in development, realizing this cold hard truth, have noticed the private sector – protecting troves of resources and piles of moneybags. The solution becomes clear, and the problems associated with it even clearer: can the goals of the private sector […]
Ferguson, Dissent, and Containment: Militarized and Racialized Policing in the United States
Following police officer Darren Wilson’s murder of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August of this year, national media attention has been directed toward racial profiling in a supposedly post-racial America, as well as the excessively forceful response of law enforcement to demonstrations following Michael Brown’s killing. The unrest in Ferguson has […]
Schizophrenia and the Genetic Question
On September 15th, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a study from a group of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, led by researcher C. Robert Cloninger, claiming that the mental disease schizophrenia is actually eight distinct disorders, as evidenced by eight different genetic origins. The study claims that though each disorder is expressed […]
Grassroots Democratization on the Factory Floor
This past April, workers at the Yue Yuen Dongguan shoe factory swarmed out into the streets in protest. Despite the hundreds of riot police swarming the streets, the workers’ numbers only swelled as they continued to protest the company’s ongoing failure to pay its employees and the thousands of fraudulent contracts they had been forced […]
They Voted No – Now What? Scottish Devolution After the Vote
On September 18, 2014, Scotland held a referendum with only one question on the ballot: Should Scotland become an independent country? In the end, the vote came to 54.2% against an independent Scotland and 45.7% for an independent Scotland. However, this does not mean that the balance of power in the UK will remain the […]
The West Lothian Question: What’s the difference between “English” & “British”?
The recent referendum in Scotland raised some important questions about devolution, the process of Westminster gradually granting what former Prime Minister William Gladstone called “home rule” to Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. For instance, what does it mean to be British –a word too often used synonymously with “English”- and what justification would be […]
Reining in the Beast: Mexico Cracks Down on Illegal Immigration
The freight train barrels north, the cars rattling on the track. At first glance, it appears the same as any of the other thousands of trains that pass through Mexico daily. But on closer inspection, one can see the masses of people clinging perilously to its roof as they hurtle towards the next obstacle on […]
Seeing the Light: Solar Power’s Bright Future
Consumers and industries around the world are using increasingly creative ways to capture solar power. The International Energy Agency predicted that solar energy could be the world’s largest source of electricity by mid-century. However, the US lags far behind other countries in the race for solar energy. Studies have suggested that solar power will account […]
The Khameni Complex
Ever since Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran in 2013, the West has looked towards Iran with a renewed sense of hope. Rouhani, a centrist armed with a platform of reform, represents perhaps the best promise of resumed relations with Iran since that country’s Islamic revolution in 1979. Prior to his election, tough sanctions […]