World
The End of Ideas: Liberation, Liberal Arts and The Closure of Yale-NUS
On August 25, 2021, Luke Davies YNUS ’23 got an email from the Yale-NUS administration. There would be a town hall the next day at 9 a.m. Classes were canceled. “Imagine they’re going to tell us the school is closing,” he joked to a friend.
Las Tierras Malhabidas: Soybeans, Land Reform, and Paraguayan Democracy
The rise and fall of President Fernando Lugo is the culmination of centuries of tangled Paraguayan politics, a story nestled within the legacies of colonialism, democratic fragility, and persistent strife over land distribution — all bound together by an industry at the core of the Paraguayan economy: soy.
The Psychopolitics of the Émigrée Experience: On Reading Milan Kundera’s “Ignorance”
In some rare cases, admiration of a masterpiece is personal. You try to resist the urge to underline every sentence and fold every single page to later return to it, and you become enchanted by the tiniest details across the pages. Milan Kundera’s “Ignorance” became one of these for me.
Does Life Imitate Art? Rosario Murillo as Lady Macbeth
Understanding Rosario Murillo in the context of Lady Macbeth helps us recognize the murderous viciousness that binds both figures together and fully makes us aware of the danger and cruelty of Murillo’s actions.
Crises of Dual Identities: a Blessing or a Curse?
The 2022 Winter Olympics has seen American-born athletes of Chinese descent diverge on different paths in the games. For example, Yale’s very own Nathan Chen competed and won gold for Team USA, while freestyle skier Eileen Gu and figure skater Zhu Yi chose to compete for China. How do these individuals reconcile being American citizens while having deep roots in another country — especially one with which the U.S. has such a complex relationship?
Infrastructure and How We Create It: The U.S. and Mexico’s Push to Build
A closer look at infrastructure policies shows that Mexico’s government takes an approach of federal directives at the cost of transparency or regulation, while the U.S. chooses process over progress.
Stuck in the Middle: France, the European Union, and a Case Study for the United States
One country has received hardly any attention from American onlookers despite the sprawling influence and global admiration it once enjoyed: France. While the United States unceasingly observes China, Russia, and Germany while keeping an eye out for its close English ally, France always comes second in the eyes of American policymakers.
Indigenizing Climate Activism: Vulnerability and Resilience on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis
Keyra Espinoza says that there are no words to describe her experience visiting Ingapirca, the ancient ruins of her Indigenous Cañari ancestors, in the summer of 2020. Located in the Southern Andes mountains of Ecuador, Ingapirca is a landscape Espinoza cherishes both for its wildlife and its deep spiritual meaning for her ancestral community.