Fentanyl is an American Foreign Policy Issue
In 2022, fentanyl killed 70,000 people in America. The drug’s overdose death toll per week, the Drug Enforcement Agency reports, is the equivalent of an entire Seton Hall graduating class.
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Author: Madeline Field
Belgian Courts Begin Trying 2016 Terror Attacks Perpetrators
Belgium’s largest-ever criminal trial began December 5 as the country seeks to bring to justice the perpetrators of the March 22, 2016, Brussels suicide bombings, NPR reports.
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FOCUS on Growing Protests: Moldova
According to Reuters, global protests aimed at rising inflation and unaffordable gas prices have reached Moldova. Euractiv reports that Russian gas companies have threatened to stop gas supplies due to alleged Moldovan nonpayment, worsening the state of the country’s struggling economy and angering political groups that criticize Moldova’s dependence on Russian energy. Protests have broken out across the country.
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One Year After Afghanistan: A New Terror Landscape Emerges
The Taliban’s quick rise to power sparked “joy” and celebration amongst a variety of militant groups that admired the Taliban’s commitment to their ideological goals. The international community’s concerns that Afghanistan will become a safe haven for terrorist activity, as in the 2000s, remains steadfast.
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The Compounding Terror and Migration Crises
Violent, Islamic-extremist terrorism has captured headlines around the world for much of the last two decades, with the number of deaths attributable to Islamic terrorism, sharply increasing in both the West and the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. This rise in terrorism across the Middle East has spurred a migration crisis, as desperate people flee to neighboring countries and across the sea to Europe in hopes of escaping violence, economic despair, and civil repression.
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Ecuador Declares State of Emergency in Response to Drug Violence
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced the reimposition of a state of emergency last Friday in three crime-ridden provinces, Guayas, Manabí, and Esmeraldas, Reuters reports. The measure, which went into effect on April 30, will remain in place for 60 days. More than 9,000 members of the police and military are expected to help enforce the government’s curfew from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM and restore law and order in the streets.
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Taliban Continue Efforts to Bar Women from Public Life Amid Worsening Crisis
The Taliban have heightened restrictions limiting women’s access to freedom and public society, prohibiting girls from returning to secondary school and women from traveling by airplane without a male companion, Reuters reports.
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FOCUS on Ukraine: Ukrainian Resistance
Ukrainians have mounted a “stiffer-than-expected” military and civil resistance since Russian troops invaded the country in late February, the New York Times reports.
The Ukrainian military, one of Europe’s largest with over 370,000 active and reserve troops, has spent billions training its soldiers to counter Russian offenses in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Thus far, it appears that their efforts have paid off – Russia, despite its military and economic advantages, has managed to capture only one major city in 10 days, the southern city of Kherson.
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Afghan Drug Trade Threatens U.S. War on Drugs
Concerns regarding the impact on Afghanistan’s opium trade have been largely elusive from global conversations since the Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan last August, despite its prominence as a multi-billion dollar industry. Reuters reports the United States government has spent more than $8 billion in an unsuccessful effort to eradicate it.
Read moreBiden Administration Re-enacts Remain in Mexico Policy
The Biden administration ‘reluctantly’ reactivated the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy on December 6, despite efforts taken by United States President Joe Biden to permanently end it on his first day in office, NPR reports. The policy, which was initially implemented under the Trump administration in 2019, targets single men, women, and family units, but will not affect unaccompanied minors.
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