India’s Goldilocks Moment: Becoming a Global Power in a Post-Trump Trade Landscape
Kirin Sidhu Kirin Sidhu

India’s Goldilocks Moment: Becoming a Global Power in a Post-Trump Trade Landscape

India, the fastest-growing major economy in the world, recently finalized “the mother of all deals” with the EU: a trade agreement that creates the largest free trade zone in the world. This isn’t a standalone phenomenon for India, but it is unprecedented given its history of protectionism. If India wants to complete its goal of being a developed nation by 2047 – part of its Viksit Bharat initiative – it needs to embrace free trade. In a trade landscape turned on its head by mercurial U.S. trade policy, India is in a prime position to assert itself as a leading global power.

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Why the US is So Persistent About Iran, from a National Security Perspective
Ella Tackett Ella Tackett

Why the US is So Persistent About Iran, from a National Security Perspective

National security policy often operates outside the realm of public opinion, and as such, can provide greater clarity on U.S. actions in Iran by focusing on the nation’s interests from an outcome-based, objective angle that ignores domestic turmoil, bureaucracy or politics. This lens only accounts for the U.S.’s best course of action as a singular entity pursuing its goals. In this account, it becomes clear that the administration disregards domestic dissent in pursuit of national security objectives in a utilitarian vacuum.

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Big Questions from a Bleak Situation: How Britain's Century Old Political Traditions Collapsed Overnight and Where they Might be Going Next
Finn Joughin Finn Joughin

Big Questions from a Bleak Situation: How Britain's Century Old Political Traditions Collapsed Overnight and Where they Might be Going Next

This week, the British public will be heading to the ballot box to cast their votes in the local council elections. In a usual year, they are uneventful occasions attended mainly by the elderly and those unhappy with the bin men. But this time, the results may well determine the future of the country. With support plummeting for the traditional two parties, public opinion has swung to the extremes, turning the race into a dirty-handed four way catfight with no clear lead for any one party. In such a time of uncertainty and possibility, it is always worth looking back and understanding what went wrong and where we might be going…

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Strengthening Safeguards for Environmental Defenders in Brazil
Cecelia Thomsak Cecelia Thomsak

Strengthening Safeguards for Environmental Defenders in Brazil

Brazil has become one of the most dangerous places in the world to defend the environment. Despite legal frameworks and international commitments, defenders remain vulnerable to ongoing violence. But there are nongovernmental organizations that have worked hard to fight for more protections and address ongoing threats.

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AMERICA WANTS THE WORLD TO VISIT - BUT DOES THE WORLD WANT TO COME?
Blake Mozingo Blake Mozingo

AMERICA WANTS THE WORLD TO VISIT - BUT DOES THE WORLD WANT TO COME?

​​Violence does not exist in a vacuum, and the actions of U.S. immigration enforcement are being watched and judged not just by Americans, but by other countries, the same ones the United States is preparing to welcome for the FIFA World Cup later this year. The world sees that Alex Pretti’s killing was not an isolated incident, coming just 17 days after Renee Good was also fatally shot by ICE. As the U.S. hosts the tournament this summer, one unintended consequence of the Trump administration’s immigration campaign, compounded by growing hostility toward allies, may be that the world simply decides not to come. Twenty years ago, the idea that among a lineup of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Qatar, and America, the American-hosted World Cup would be the only one boycotted would have been unthinkable.

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