Next Generation Diplomacy

Black Fungus and 2nd Spread of Covid in India Written By: Amritpreet Kaur Thousands of India’s citizens have been impacted by COVID’s second wave, which began in March of this year. After a first wave starting in February of last year, the resurgence of COVID-19 cases has become especially frightening. To add to their troubles, many of those who had been affected with COVID-19 have grown increasingly susceptible to another rare infection known as the black fungus. India had over 26 million cases of COVID-19, close to the US. Hospitals were being filled. The “Black Fungus,” scientifically known as Mucormycosis, surged through India’s progress after ending the second wave. Hospitals are being loaded, and patients are dying without their treatment. The reason why this seemingly rare disease of black fungus has started to increase seems to be an outcome of lack of treatment, leaving many patients by themselves on hospital floors. Mucormycosis, the scientific name of black fungus, is a ve...

Damanpreet Kaur Director Of Governance Since August of 2020, farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and all of India have been protesting against India’s novel agricultural laws. These farmers, called the Kisaans have been protesting changes to India’s Agricultural laws because these new laws would trap farmers into contract farming systems with larger corporate businesses and consumers. Through almost a year of violence, India’s government has still refused to take steps to alleviate the issue, instead choosing to alienate peaceful protesters with tear gas and violence. On January 26, 2021, as India’s Republic Day, a national holiday where the country celebrates enacting its constitution, a peaceful rally a couple of miles away suddenly regressed into a violent riot. Police raided protest sites, used tear gas, and took the liberty of hitting protesters with batons. Nearly a million farmers rode their tractors to India’s capital, knocking down police barricades. Till this day, July 21, 2021, ...

Hostile Architecture as a Cover-Up to Affordable Housing Written by Faith Chen Hostile architecture, also known as defensive design, is a strategy to maintain order in urban areas by restricting activities. Order includes–but is not limited to–the prevention of crime, protection of property, and curtailing the livelihoods of the homeless population. (Chellew, 2019) . According to Pinto (2020), hostile architecture is seen as a solution to health and public safety; explicit forms of defensive urban design, such as ‘anti-homeless spikes,’ may ruin the aesthetic appeal of spaces leading to hostile architecture being implemented in more subtle ways. An incident involving metal spikes in 2014 in London sparked outrage and brought awareness to the exclusive methods of social control. (Petty, 2016) . Additional examples of defensive design include benches designed to prevent lying down, skateboard deterrents (Chellew, 2019) , or any other object which aims to exclude people from a public area...

Written By: Griffin Hon Electric vehicles seem to have gotten their big break finally. In the wake of Tesla’s success, the hype train (or, more appropriately, hype electric vehicle) is full to bursting with companies including BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Nissan, Tesla, Toyota, VW, and recently, Cadillac.1 Volvo has wholly phased out their conventional engines, placing all of their chips on their newly dealt hand, the electric vehicle.2 All of the most recent news from the car industry seems to be singularly focused on this future product that approaches the present increasingly quickly. Even the International Energy Agency expects some 30% of all cars to be electric by 2030.3 However, this jump in popularity has been met with suspicion, and potentially for a good reason. Long-term planning is shaky; the infrastructure is mainly unprepared, quality compromises are abundant due to financial cuts,4 among numerous other problems including consumer misunderstanding and fluctuating public perce...

Why Expanding Access to Quality Education is Vital Written By: Jared Glassman In nations worldwide, education is the key to building a future filled with success and prosperity. From providing strong study skills to a background in public speaking and communication, a quality education goes a long way for those lucky enough to receive one. Unfortunately, not all people have access to the gift of quality education, an issue that needs urgent attention worldwide. A quality education ultimately is associated with reduced poverty, decreased crime, and promotes gender equality. The first reason that access to quality education needs to be expanded is that that will lead to dramatic reductions in poverty worldwide. An excerpt by University of the People states, “According to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, each additional year of schooling increases a person’s earnings by about 10%. Moreover, it’s been shown that for each $1 invested in additional education, average incomes in...

Written By: Andrew Zhang Palm tree lined roads, romantic walks on beautiful beaches, and sunsets from the balcony of your cruise ship. The ideal place for relaxing and basking in the warm sun. However, beneath this rosy paradigm, there lies a shrouded, darker side of this two-faced tropical paradise. The real Caribbean represents an epidemic of natural and manmade disasters. Massive flooding, devastating hurricanes, city-shattering earthquakes are all the norm, and the Caribbean’s already lackluster infrastructure, failing financial markets, rising crime rates, poverty, and corruption in the government are no less deadly. These problems, among others, have contributed to much of the Caribbean's problems, and have been at the center of their recent history. (Caribbean Journal Staff). 1 o’clock, Eastern standard time. Gunshots in the streets. A state of emergency declared. President declared dead. Country left in upheaval and chaos. Ex-President Jovenel Moïse was democratically el...