Before becoming one of the world’s most recognizable heads of state, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a comic actor and entertainer, whose most famous show, “Servant of the People,” imagined him in a role he would one day, unbelievably, come to hold in real life. But how was it possible for someone with so little […]
The gradual breakdown of the prevailing geopolitical order has brought to the fore numerous far right parties and politicians across Western democracy, bringing with them some very old (and very dangerous) tropes of anti-Semitism. In light of these frightening trends, it is more important than ever for us to confront the often difficult and challenging […]
The story of the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1936 is often overshadowed by that of the country’s civil war and its entanglement across the other major developments in Europe at the time. But Spanish fascism was also driven by an enduring set of beliefs – which were so thoroughly odious and absurd […]
It may just be a smattering of insignificant rocks and reefs along the Nine-dash line between the Philippines and China, but in recent years this area has become the focus of the world’s most complex and dangerous maritime dispute. China’s growing influence and willingness to project its will against smaller neighbors and US allies has […]
In the age of information and with growing calls around the world for democracy, Vladimir Putin, Lee Kuan Yew and Alberto Fujimori are redefining what it means to be a dictator in the 21st century. Through the manipulation of information, media, and using censorship, this new breed of despots are covertly monopolizing power under the […]
In international finance, the difference between what is legal and normal and what is criminal and corrupt is often unclear, a disparity made worse by an overlapping series of laws and regulations which in some cases can put U.S. competition at a disadvantage. These networks of illicit finance, shell corporations, and offshore structures used by […]