Opinion Archives - Page 10 of 28 - The Diplomatic Envoy

Sustainable environmental policies are nearly impossible to achieve at the current rate global governments are pursuing them. Numerous states profit from unsustainable practices of development, increasing the present divide between developed and developing countries. Old standards of development, and what it means to be sustainable, have systemically stunted progress toward sustainability.

2021 November 2021 Opinion

November 24, 2021 Elsie Tierney

Facebook’s Complicity in Regional Violence Must End

The international social network, Facebook, currently hosts more than 2.8 billion monthly users worldwide in more than 190 countries and 160 different languages. With all of this diversity among their members, it becomes difficult for Facebook to thoroughly review all posts coming from all corners of the globe.

October 2021 Opinion Climate Change

October 27, 2021 Katherine Dorrer

Could a New Legal Approach Curb Deforestation?

The Brazilian Government is ignoring the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted through the combination of deforestation and agricultural exploitation practices in the Amazon Rainforest under President Bolsonaro’s administration. Officials are failing to acknowledge the climate imbalance of the Global South, wildlife extinction, and habitat loss the rainforest is currently facing.

October 2021 Opinion Americas

October 27, 2021 Madeline Field

A Call for Accountability at Guantanamo Bay

The 20th anniversary of 9/11 and simultaneous failed withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has renewed American discussion on the War on Terror. Public consensus seems to be that this conflict has ended, as few troops remain stationed in the Middle East, and the Biden administration has pivoted its foreign policy focus to Asia.

October 2021 Opinion Asia

October 27, 2021 Andrea Gonzalez

China’s Evergrande ‘Bites the Dust’

China’s Evergrande is facing a media crisis after missing several key payments in recent weeks, reports the New York Times. News outlets see the situation as paralleling the events that sparked Lehman Brother’s catastrophic default in 2008, a catalyst in the global financial meltdown. Despite the turbulence, Xi Jinping’s government may not bother to save the company from a fallout that has already sparked hysteria among investors.

September 2021 Opinion

September 30, 2021 Andrea Gonzalez

China’s Authoritarianism Facilitates Economic Growth Amid COVID-19

Despite being the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, China’s swift and strict response to the pandemic allegedly led to a 2.3 percent increase in GDP in the year 2020, reports NPR. The pandemic posed a unique challenge for the communist government, but not an unmanageable one. Leaning into authoritarian tactics, the Chinese government was able to fight the virus while simultaneously building back its economy.

September 2021 Opinion

September 30, 2021 Katherine Dorrer

Mass Migrations are on the Horizon if Politicians Keep Ignoring Climate Change

Conflicts and instability have been driving forces for migration across the world for decades, but now global leaders must worry about climate change before it is too late. Forced migration is often exhibited in areas of conflict where refugees and asylum-seekers hope to flee persecution, yet The International Red Cross estimates that there are currently more environmental refugees than political refugees.

September 2021 Opinion

September 30, 2021 Catherine Anderson

Booster Shots Unethically Exacerbate Global Vaccine Inequity

It has been one year, six months, and a little over a week since March 13, 2020: the day that the flu-like illness called “coronavirus” suddenly brought the lives of every American to a screeching halt. The country waited nearly a full year for vaccines to become available yet, months after a nationwide vaccination campaign began, the crisis has morphed into a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” as The Guardian writes. Now, in light of the Delta variant and a slight waning immunity to COVID-19, there is talk of a third booster shot.

September 2021 Opinion

September 30, 2021 Henrik Pettersson

What Are China’s True Intentions in Afghanistan?

The amicable, yet cautious, relationship between the Taliban and the Chinese Communist Party has been unmistakable in the weeks leading up to and following the contentious U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to Reuters, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the political chief of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, at the end of July. In this meeting, the two discussed Afghanistan’s sovereignty and independence, in addition to security and stability concerns within the nation.