In The News

Why Venezuela Matters: New York Times

Megan Specia April 30, 2019
Maduro has presided over Venezuela's corrupt and mismanaged government since 2013, with violence, hunger and hyperinflation. Maduro refuses to engage in peaceful transfer of power. Venezuela, with ample oil supplies, should be among the world’s wealthiest nations. Yet 30 million citizens must contend with unreliable food, electricity, medicine and other basic supplies. Maduro curtailed power...

Sri Lanka Attacks: BBC

April 22, 2019
A series of suicide bombings targeted crowded churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday and Monday. The government blamed a local jihadist group, arresting 24 individuals, and declared a national emergency. This included a curfew and limits on social media. The attacks killed almost 300 people and injured 500. The country is reaching out to the international community for assistance on...

North Korea Tests New Weapon, Pompeo: ABC News

Karma Allen April 18, 2019
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is nothing short of audacious in his dealings with the United States as a world superpower. The dictator lured the US president into two summits, then balked on taking any steps toward agreement for reducing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Amid discussions about a third summit, the country claims to have tested a new tactical guided weapon and called for removal...

The Mueller Report

Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III April 18, 2019
The US Department of Justice has released the Mueller report, with fewer redactions than anticipated by most analysts. The report details a systematic campaign from Russia to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump. The US attorney general in an initial summary and a press conference suggests that he regards the US president as exonerated, an opinion embraced by...

Trump Vetoes Yemen War Resolution: Washington Post

Felicia Sonmez, Josh Dawsey and Karoun Demirjian April 17, 2019
Congress approved a resolution that would have ended US support for the Saudi-led war Yemen – and Donald Trump issued a veto. Many analysts view the civil war in Yemen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran to constrain the other’s regional influence. The resolution had won support from both Republican and Democrats, with the Washington Post noting, “the Saudi-led effort, which has targeted...

Lesson of Rwanda Genocide: Amnesty International

Joan Nyanyuki April 17, 2019
Rwanda’s genocide began in April 1994, triggered by a plane crash carrying then-President Juvenal Habyarimana. Soldiers set up roadblocks, and open calls went out over the radio for neighbors to attack neighbors. “Between the start of the genocide on 7 April 1994 and the end of the massacres in July the same year, around 800,000 people were killed,” explains Joan Nyanyuki of Amnesty International...

In Sudan, a Transition to Democracy? Foreign Policy

Robbie Gramer, Justin Lynch, Colum Lynch, Jefcoate O’Donnell April 14, 2019
After four months of nationwide protests, the Sudanese military ousted President Omar al-Bashir, ending three decades of dictatorial rule. The dethronement of al-Bashir, under house arrest due to his 2009 indictment by the International Criminal Court for the Darfur genocide, leaves a power vacuum. Defense Minister Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, under US sanctions for his role in the Darfur genocide, failed...