February 2022

February 2022FocusSports Geopolitics2022

FOCUS on Sports Geopolitics: The Olympics

Those who follow sports in some way will know that politics always get involved no matter how much fans wish otherwise. As has been shown this year, domestic and international politics have characterized the Olympic Games, as the most international and inherently political non-political event there is. With the 2022 Beijing games ongoing, it is worth remembering that the Olympics’ thrust into political spotlights isn’t new.

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February 2022Faculty Spotlight2022School of Diplomacy News

Rajaa Altalli Joins School of Diplomacy as Spring Sergio Vieira de Mello Chair

Rajaa Altalli, a Syrian civil society leader, joined Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy as the Sergio Vieira de Mello Endowed Visiting Chair and as a Fellow in the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. Ms. Altalli brings her unique perspective and extensive experiences to the School of Diplomacy this spring.

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February 20222022International NewsAmericas

Canadian truckers shut down Ottawa with vaccine protests

A convoy of big rigs protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates arrived in Ottawa, on January 29 after a weeklong drive across Canada. Called the Freedom Convoy, the group of truckers is protesting measures recently announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requiring vaccines for Canadian truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border and mandatory quarantine periods for unvaccinated truckers returning to Canada, reports BBC News.

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February 2022Opinion2022Europe

“Partygate” Covers Up Deeper Problems Within UK Media

In November of 2021, a series of rumors about social gatherings at Downing Street, the home and office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, set off a spiraling crisis that put his career in jeopardy. According to Foreign Policy, Johnson’s residence hosted over a dozen gatherings with more than 100 staff. At the same time, COVID-19 restrictions kept working class Britons from “mixing, visiting elderly relatives, or attending the funerals of loved ones.”

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February 2022Alumni Spotlight2022School of Diplomacy News

Alumni Spotlight: Daniela Maquera Sardón

Daniela Maquera Sardon recently sat down with the Diplomatic Envoy to recall her experiences at Seton Hall University. Daniela migrated to New Jersey at age fifteen from Peru and graduated from Seton Hall University in 2021 as the university valedictorian with a Diplomacy and Economics major and an Asian Studies minor. She proceeded to do a remote exchange student at Stockholm University in Development Economics; she is now working with Mercy Corps as an intern while studying at Fudan University for her Master of Science in World and Chinese Economy on a Chinese Government Scholarship.

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February 2022Eastern EuropeOpinion2022

Where’s the Working Class in Foreign Policy?

The wealthiest country in human history finds itself helpless in stopping a nation with an economy smaller than that of Texas. There’s no punchline to follow, and if there was, it would certainly fall flat to Ukrainian comedian-turned-President Volodymyr Zelensky. NPR reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has encircled Ukraine’s border with 100,000 Russian soldiers.

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February 2022FocusSports Geopolitics2022

FOCUS on Sports Geopolitics: Sportswashing

Saudi Arabia recently made headlines in the sporting world with its purchase of a stake in the English Premier League club Newcastle United as part of their Public Investment Fund, according to NPR. This fund, which is owned by the Saudi Arabian government, ended up purchasing an 80% stake of Newcastle United for 300 million pounds, the equivalent of $400 million. 

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February 20222022International NewsMiddle East

Yemen War Intensifies as Drones Fired on UAE

On January 17, a drone attack on the UAE by Ansarullah, also known as Houthis, in Yemen marked the first time Yemeni forces were able to strike targets in the UAE, a notable escalation in the Yemen War, reports The Associated Press. The Associated Press further reports that this attack was followed by subsequent strikes on strategic facilities in the UAE, including during the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on January 31.

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February 20222022International NewsAmericas

Honduras Swears in First Female President

After losing elections in 2013 and 2017, Xiomara Castro has officially been inaugurated as Honduras’s first female president, reports CNN. Castro first rose to political prominence in 2009, when she led a march through the nation’s capital demanding that her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, be reinstated as president following a military coup. Castro, a  self-proclaimed democratic socialist brings an end to 12 years of right-wing leadership, BBC News adds. At her inauguration, she emphasized that she seeks to “refound” the nation on “citizen values, ”The New York Times reports. 

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