On January 3, 2026, I woke up to the news that Nicolas Maduro—the man who led the regime that had terrorized millions of Venezuelans, including my own family, for opposing its corruption—had been captured and was awaiting trial. I do not know a single Venezuelan who has not personally suffered under Maduro’s leadership. Those who […]
In early January, the Department of Justice issued the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) multiple grand jury subpoenas regarding planned renovations for two Fed buildings in Washington, D.C. The renovations themselves are outstandingly banal: in a July 17 letter to the Office of Management and Budget, Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell specified the renovations, […]
On September 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security issued a boastful press release, claiming that they had removed or encouraged the self-deportation of over “two million illegal aliens” out of the United States in less than 250 days. This aggressive enforcement effort has been carried out by the Trump Administration’s deployment of Immigration and […]
Nature abhors a vacuum. So does geopolitics. Most Americans believe that foreign aid consumes nearly a quarter of the federal budget. In reality, it has historically accounted for less than 1 percent. This widespread misconception is precisely what made it politically possible for the United States to decimate its primary development agency overnight with little […]
Prior to the 1990s, defense contracting looked very different than it does today. During the Vietnam War, Korean War, and Cold War, the building of arms remained in the hands of multiple smaller defense contracting companies. By the end of the Cold War as U.S military spending reached over $325 billion annually, lawmakers began to […]
Seventeen years ago, the 2008 Debt Crisis brought Greece to its knees, pushing unemployment above 27 percent and shrinking the economy by a quarter. With three relief packages totaling 289 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU), the country faced a difficult road to recovery. Finally, Greece has begun to […]
Conflict is the world’s greatest threat to stability. As multilateral institutions atrophy and hegemonic powers embrace militarism, small and middle powers (SMPs) must navigate a precarious future. Yet, the dissolution of unipolarity also presents opportunities for SMPs to lead diplomatic innovation by leveraging strategic coalitions with civil society and with each other. Should these states […]
The United States is confronting a disturbing reality: the criminal legal system has become one of the most consequential forces determining who survives long enough to grow old. New evidence shows that the greatest threats to Black Americans’ life expectancy are not solely medical, but structural. Where policing, incarceration, and environmental injustice converge, premature death […]
Introduction In March of 2015, following the death of Michael Brown and the subsequent uproar surrounding his death, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted an extensive investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. At the conclusion of their investigation, the DOJ released a 102-page report, citing several instances of racial bias among police […]
Uber drivers don’t get unemployment insurance, but doesn’t mean no one pays. When the pandemic hit, thousands of gig workers found themselves without rides, without support, and without answers. Platforms like Uber and Lyft insisted that drivers were independent contractors, not employees, and therefore not eligible for state unemployment benefits. In response, many states shuffled […]
