High-profile mass shootings in the United States in recent years have rekindled the gun control debate and raised comparisons of policies around the world.
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As technology companies and carmakers become increasingly reliant on cobalt, many business, government, and nonprofit leaders have grown concerned about the mineral’s controversial supply chain.
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Differences over Taiwan’s status fuel tensions between the island and mainland, yet cross-strait economic ties continue to deepen.
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Endemic to the African tropics, the Ebola virus has killed thousands in recent years, putting the World Health Organization and major donor countries in the limelight as they’ve grappled with how to respond to outbreaks. -
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North Korea has embarked on an accelerated buildup of weapons of mass destruction and modernization of its already large conventional force.
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With the U.S. national debt already exceeding $15 trillion, President Trump’s tax reform and budget deals with Congress are poised to add massively to the country’s deficits.
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Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Though President Trump withdrew from the TPP, the remaining members of the trade pact have forged ahead with a new version, leaving the U.S. role in the Asia-Pacific in question. -
President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the landmark agreement jeopardizes the unprecedented visibility international inspectors now have into Iran’s nuclear program.
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South Korea’s megaconglomerates have helped lift the country out of poverty, but their extraordinary influence could put the health of the Korean economy at risk.
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Federal investigators in Brazil have uncovered corruption at the highest levels of the government and in the country’s largest corporations.
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Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group, are fleeing persecution in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, fueling a historic migration crisis.
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With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, London hopes its Commonwealth partners can help boost trade, but critics say the group is outmoded and ineffective.
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The Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian tensions and brought stability to Northern Ireland since 1998, but Brexit negotiations and local political paralysis are throwing the region’s hard-won gains into doubt.
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The Organization of American States is an important forum for regional diplomacy, but it has been hesitant to censure member states for violating democratic principles.
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Less than a century after the discovery of antibiotics, the world is at risk of entering an era in which the life-saving drugs no longer work. -
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and arguably has the most leverage on Kim Jong-un’s regime. But while Beijing appears willing to condemn its neighbor’s nuclear developments, analysts say its cautious policies remain focused on stability.
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President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to consolidate power amid a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis have drawn widespread international condemnation.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has introduced an audacious set of economic policies designed to spur the country out of its decades-long deflationary slump. The results have so far been mixed.
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World Trade Organization (WTO)
With President Trump skeptical of the WTO’s usefulness and Doha negotiations stalled, the future of global trade rules is in doubt. -
The United States and other Western countries are reevaluating their foreign investment regulations amid an uptick in Chinese interest in strategic sectors.
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As religious observance in China grows, the Chinese Communist Party continues to toughen oversight, increase religious persecution, and attempt to coopt state-sanctioned religious organizations.
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The Chinese Communist Party faces a host of pressing domestic and international policy issues as it transitions to a new generation of leaders.
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Dispute resolution mechanisms have become increasingly controversial as countries grapple with their implications for sovereignty, domestic regulation, and the enforcement of international obligations.