Uma Miskinyar Introduction Germany is pushing for mass Syrian returns, but neither Syria nor refugees themselves are fully on board with repatriation. In March 2026, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that he and President Ahmed al-Sharaa hope that 80% of Germany’s Syrian population will return home by 2029. The chancellor rationalized his plan by arguing that the security situation in Syria, given its current status, is stable enough to justify a large-scale assisted

Katie Leslie Introduction: On February 28, 2026, the world’s attention turned to Israel and the United States, who began to bomb Iran to destroy missile and military centers while targeting and successfully killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As Israel and the U.S. continue to strike Iran, the conflict has become a full-on war affecting diplomatic relations and the world economy. Neighboring countries in the Gulf region, such as Lebanon, are als

Alexa Fishman Introduction Russia’s four-year-long war against Ukraine has dominated headlines since February 2022. Members of the international community have watched as hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed, injured, and displaced in this conflict. Powers like the United States have sent aid to Ukraine in order to prevent Russia from reabsorbing the country. However, one aspect of this war has been underrepresented in the news, lost in a sea of casualty report

Uma Miskinyar Situating Mustang Panda Within China’s Cyber Strategy Mustang Panda is a Chinese state-aligned cyber espionage group known for conducting persistent malware campaigns to collect intelligence from government, military, and diplomatic targets. Originally concentrated in Southeast Asia, the cyber espionage threat actor has increasingly targeted United States and allied institutions. The group is also known by the alias Twill Typhoon , a designation used across

Alexa Fishman Introduction The past two years have been volatile ones in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war between Israel and Hamas that ended a little more than two years after the October 7 attacks was characterized by global accusations against Israel of genocide, the fight for the return of the hostages, and rising Palestinian death tolls. While this war and its ceasefire are at the forefront of the international community’s mind, a different, lesser-known thr

Wells Benjamin “You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore. This city will always pursue you.” “The City”, C. P. Cavafy Introduction: Nothing New Under the Sun The concept of an urban war is often thought of as a modern phenomena. Images of Stalingrad and Fallujah capture the mind and promote the idea that urban warfare is a kind of uniquely modern environment for war, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. As long as humans have begun to gravitate towards

Uma Miskinyar Cyber Threats Beyond Earth Efforts to secure America’s critical infrastructure have long focused on land, air, and sea. However, as reliance on space-based systems accelerates , orbit is becoming the newest, and increasingly exposed, arena for cyber intrusion. Cyber threats increasingly target the period of technological metamorphosis as space systems undergo rapid innovation. As low-earth orbit constellations provide services such as broadband to proliferate

Kaiya Davis Introduction Since 2020, China has been gradually increasing the number of military displays and strategic maneuvers that test the defenses of Taiwan and American commitments near the South China Sea. Backed by the United States, Taiwan capitalizes on its semiconductor dominance as a counterpoint to increase economic relationships and push for its inclusion in international platforms, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), in the face of these thr

Emily Sawires Introduction Sudan is no stranger to conflict, with a history plagued by decades of coups, ethnic cleansing, and intrastate war. The current civil war has produced a detrimental humanitarian crisis that involves pervasive famine, displacement, and sexual violence. While numerous peace talks have taken place, all attempts to secure a lasting ceasefire have thus far failed. A critical force fueling the conflict is sponsorship of the Sudanese warring factions b

Katie Leslie Introduction On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine under the command of President Vladimir Putin. His authoritarian rule and eye on annexation have motivated his uncompromising behavior toward the ongoing war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains committed to maintaining national sovereignty and territorial integrity despite the hardships of continuing to fight for more than three years. Ukraine’s allies, including multiple

Makayla Bangoura Overview In June of 2025, a 35-year-old Pakistani woman named Bano Bibi was shot and killed. It is suspected that Bibi, a wife and mother to five children, was murdered in relation to allegations of infidelity. Authorities and international media have deemed Bibi’s murder an “honor killing,” a murder motivated by the dishonor she was alleged to have brought upon her family. After opening an investigation, police found video evidence of Bibi’s mother stat

Wells Benjamin Introduction In the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu, a French religious and political figure, held an extraordinary degree of influence over the affairs of the French Kingdom. His vision of foreign and domestic policy was second only to that of Louis XIII, and throughout his tenure he often served as France’s preeminent statesman. During his political career, Cardinal Richelieu was accompanied by François Leclerc du Tremblay, a Capuchin friar who served as h

Uma Miskinyar Introduction The power vacuum left by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has reshaped Central Asia’s balance of power in ways that pose significant challenges to U.S. national security, causing a tumultuous disruption to the West. The rise of militant Islamist groups has exponentially grown along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties, posing the question: does the resurgence of Al-Qaeda mean anything to America? The

Chloe Bradley Introduction On May 7th, 2021, the United States faced a significant cyberattack carried out by a Russian nationalist group known as DarkSide. The Colonial Pipeline spans over 5,000 miles and serves as the largest oil pipeline in the US. The 2021 attack shut down the pipeline for 5 days, causing extreme gas shortages, especially along the U.S eastern coast, and a surge in gas prices. This incident may have occurred on U.S soil, but it demonstrates the present

Jordan Smith Overview It was the official declaration of Israel as a state by the United Nations in 1948 that sparked the first...

Sarah Reeves Introduction Homelessness is a highly visible issue. If you look on the street corners of any metropolitan area across the...

William Gonzalez Overview The trend towards nationalizing lithium mining in Mexico and South America, particularly in countries like...

J. Bailey Wiggins Although the European Union has granted candidate status for membership to both Ukraine and Moldova, Russian influence...

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