Israel Judicial Crisis: An Attempt to Undermine the Middle East’s Only Democracy
Introduction In early 2023, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi), announced a series of reforms that functionally remove authority from the judiciary and eliminate the Supreme Court’s powers. The current government, which is the most...
Freedom of Assembly in France
On April 15th, President Macron signed into law his unpopular reform act increasing the state pension age from 62 to 64. Since January, millions have mobilized in demonstrations across France to denounce the reform. However, civil unrest exploded in late March after...
Contextualizing the BRICS Nations’ Quest to Establish a New Global Reserve Currency
Introduction The concept of “de-dollarization” has become an increasingly topical issue as countries seek to decrease their dependence on the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency. Should de-dollarization occur, there are many countries that would like...
The De Minimis Exception: A Not-So-Minimal Loophole to Trade Policy
Introduction American consumers are increasingly aware of the abysmal working conditions attached to some of the most prominent brands in the fashion market. Over the past decade, popular brand names like Nike, Shein, and H&M have been criticized for their use of...
Transitional Justice
Introduction When exploring solutions to an armed conflict and a history of human rights violations, one can usually think of bringing cases before a tribunal to find those responsible and hold them accountable. However, it is not that easy. Policymakers must also...
State Department Resistance to the Congressional Investigation into the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
In April 2021, President Biden announced that the United States would unilaterally withdraw from Afghanistan. Although the war in Afghanistan was deeply unpopular by that point, the withdrawal itself generated controversy. A few months later, in July of 2021, just one...
Not Quite A Crisis: How the WTO Has Adapted to a Failing Dispute Resolution System
The dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) has been on life support since 2019 when the Trump administration blocked the appointment of appellate members, shutting down the appellate process in the WTO’s dispute resolution system. This has...
Two Big Two Fail: A Second International Banking Crisis May Be Upon Us
On March 16, 2023, Switzerland’s second largest investment bank, Credit Suisse, announced their request for a loan of fifty billion Swiss Francs ($54 billion USD) to boost their liquidity. This request came less than a week after regulators closed United States-based...
Second Time’s the Charm? How the Windsor Framework Changes the Post-Brexit Rules in Northern Ireland
On February 27, 2023, the United Kingdom and European Union announced that they had reached an agreement – the Windsor Framework – to further clarify the status of Northern Ireland post-Brexit. The Windsor Framework builds on 2021’s Northern Ireland Protocol to...
Hungary: Permanently Ruling by Emergency Degree
On May 22, 2022, Hungary declared a state of emergency in response to the “emergency” posed by armed conflict in Ukraine and Russian aggression. This is the latest in a string of state of emergency declarations that allowed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to continue...