By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) President Trump’s first ban on transgender service members in our military, released in a firestorm of Tweets late last year, took the nation by surprise by its suddenness. Although his ban has since been blocked by four separate federal courts—a happy victory for transgender troops and civil right advocates—he has now proceeded with a second attempt at restricting...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) Tensions between the United States’ and North Korea have been escalating throughout the past year. 2018, however, seems to be bringing forth a new era of diplomacy. Kim Jong Un has extended an invitation to President Trump to meet, an invitation that Trump has accepted. Although Trump appears confident, he has simultaneously articulated the U.S.’s ability and...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting on February 14, 2018, legislators at every level of government have been revisiting gun policy. One approach in particular, endorsed first by the NRA and now President Trump, rests upon the assumption that “the only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Trump, in response, has proposed a plan of arming...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) India ranked 154th on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index in 2015, making it among the biggest underachievers in Asia. Their public health situation is notorious, with increasing levels of water and air pollution as well as other issues such as malnutrition and poor sanitation. The Indian government has announced a new healthcare system—the National Health Protection...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) The United States’ food stamp program—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—extends back to the era of the Great Depression, and provides food security to over 45 million people in the country today. The budget proposal President Trump handed to Congress indicates his intentions to overhaul SNAP by cutting the program’s budget by $17 billion dollars by...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) In the post 9/11 world, national security has become one of the biggest concerns that governments grapple with. In Australia, this concern has manifested in the form of two new pieces of legislation currently being debated: the National Security Legislation Amendment and the Foreign Transparency Scheme. In defending state interests, however, legislators can go too far, and...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) The mantra of “America First” has come to symbolize President Trump’s commitment to America’s businesses and manufacturing industries. In January, Trump took the first step in fulfilling his promise of protectionism by implementing tariffs on washing machines and solar products after complaints from multiple companies that cheap, artificial prices from abroad were hurting...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson explicitly and officially labeled the Myanmar government’s actions against the Rohingya, a minority Muslim population, as ethnic cleansing this month. In accompaniment, U.S. lawmakers are proposing targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on individual military officials involved in the infractions committed against the...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) Venezuela has been drawing increasing international concern over the past few weeks as political and economic situations in the country deteriorate. In fact, the United Nations Security Council held an informal meeting in early November to discuss the situation in the country and its threat to regional stability. Additionally, the European Union approved an arms embargo...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) The past week proved to be a tense time for the Afghan population, who faced a major change in facets of everyday communication. On November 2, the Afghan government released an order to ban Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Telegram. The deputy director of the telecoms regulatory authority justified the decision on the grounds of national security, stating that the two apps are...
