The “Lost Decade(s)” that have beleaguered the Japanese economy are rarely lost on anyone. In 1985, the Plaza Accord strengthened the Japanese yen. This, alongside overzealous financial deregulation, fueled an asset bubble that eventually burst i...
Note: This piece was written between October-November 2025. Politics are constantly evolving, and so there may have been multiple developments by the time of publication. Most notably, Andrej Babiš was sworn in as Czechia’s prime minister on Decem...
Albania’s newest cabinet member is pregnant…with 83 babies. But do not worry, she is not human. Meet Diella, Albania’s “AI minister.” Diella was “born” on January 19, 2025, with the job of managing Albania’s ‘e-Albania’ platform, ...
Abortion is a guaranteed right in Nepal’s constitution. However, doctors and healthcare providers often find themselves barred from offering abortion services—not by local authorities, but by laws made over 7,000 miles away in the United States. ...
Abortion is a guaranteed right in Nepal’s constitution. However, doctors and healthcare providers often find themselves barred from offering abortion services—not by local authorities, but by laws made over 7,000 miles away in the United States. ...
Cryptographers are preparing for the end times. “Q-Day”—the moment when quantum computers become sufficiently advanced and accessible that commonplace digital security systems are instantly rendered unviable—is fast approaching. But Q-Day’s...
Cryptographers are preparing for the end times. “Q-Day”—the moment when quantum computers become sufficiently advanced and accessible that commonplace digital security systems are instantly rendered unviable—is fast approaching. But Q-Day’s...
It is a middle school math teacher’s favorite trivia question: What is the world’s deadliest animal? After images of a hunting tiger or towering gorilla flash through our imagination, we remember that it is the humble mosquito, whose terrible imp...
It is a middle school math teacher’s favorite trivia question: What is the world’s deadliest animal? After images of a hunting tiger or towering gorilla flash through our imagination, we remember that it is the humble mosquito, whose terrible imp...
In 2018, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed the Basic Law: Israel—The Nation State of the Jewish People. The law has since been widely derided for its discriminatory nature and codification of the ethnic tensions that have characterized Isr...
In 2018, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed the Basic Law: Israel—The Nation State of the Jewish People. The law has since been widely derided for its discriminatory nature and codification of the ethnic tensions that have characterized Isr...
In 2019, Norway sent pop band Keiino to the Eurovision Song Contest. The group performed their arctic-inspired banger “Spirit in the Sky” in front of 182 million viewers and won the public vote. The crowning jewel of the song, and the principal r...
In 2019, Norway sent pop band Keiino to the Eurovision Song Contest. The group performed their arctic-inspired banger “Spirit in the Sky” in front of 182 million viewers and won the public vote. The crowning jewel of the song, and the principal r...
The deal was simple. She was a 23-year-old single mother of two children in Sweden during the early 1950s. Hindered by a battle with alcoholism, she struggled to care for her children. Now, she had fallen pregnant for a third time. She was too young ...
The deal was simple. She was a 23-year-old single mother of two children in Sweden during the early 1950s. Hindered by a battle with alcoholism, she struggled to care for her children. Now, she had fallen pregnant for a third time. She was too young ...
Between 2019 and 2020, the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 06 (向阳红 06) conducted oceanographic research missions over 10,000 kilometers of the Indian Ocean, purportedly engaging in collaboration with scientists from Sri Lanka and Myanma...
Between 2019 and 2020, the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 06 (向阳红 06) conducted oceanographic research missions over 10,000 kilometers of the Indian Ocean, purportedly engaging in collaboration with scientists from Sri Lanka and Myanma...
Matthew Cleary is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, recognized in 2024 as the nation’s top institution for Public Affairs by US News. Specializing in Latin Ame...
Matthew Cleary is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, recognized in 2024 as the nation’s top institution for Public Affairs by US News. Specializing in Latin Ame...
In 2019, Akqol became Kazakhstan’s first “smart city.” Today, an extensive network of high-resolution cameras tracks everything from pedestrians’ morning commute to traffic flow, energy consumption, and school attendance. Designed to bring ur...
In 2019, Akqol became Kazakhstan’s first “smart city.” Today, an extensive network of high-resolution cameras tracks everything from pedestrians’ morning commute to traffic flow, energy consumption, and school attendance. Designed to bring ur...
The death of Alexei Navalny on February 16, 2024 was equally shocking and unsurprising. Few expected Navalny’s confinement in an unusually strict Siberian penal colony to end happily, and his death spurred a dizzying set of tributes and memorials a...
The death of Alexei Navalny on February 16, 2024 was equally shocking and unsurprising. Few expected Navalny’s confinement in an unusually strict Siberian penal colony to end happily, and his death spurred a dizzying set of tributes and memorials a...
Exhausted by centuries of imperialism, 19th-century Slavic intellectuals proposed “Pan-Slavism”—or the unity of all Slavic peoples along shared cultural and political lines into a singular geopolitical bloc—as a defense against neighboring ag...
Exhausted by centuries of imperialism, 19th-century Slavic intellectuals proposed “Pan-Slavism”—or the unity of all Slavic peoples along shared cultural and political lines into a singular geopolitical bloc—as a defense against neighboring ag...
The death of Alexei Navalny unites the Russian resistance in a powerful act of collective grief Prelude The third of March, Boston Common, gloomy afternoon. I stand in front of the memorial clutching four yellow carnations, my eyes wet with tears. A ...
The death of Alexei Navalny unites the Russian resistance in a powerful act of collective grief Prelude The third of March, Boston Common, gloomy afternoon. I stand in front of the memorial clutching four yellow carnations, my eyes wet with tears. A ...