2025 Patterson School Trip to Washington, D.C.

By John W. Parks As part of the Patterson School experience, students participate in an annual Spring Break trip to regional hubs of politics, research, diplomacy, and international commerce. This year, the Patterson School took on the nation’s capital, Washington DC, where the 2024-2025 cohort was exposed to the facilities and professionals that many will... Continue Reading →

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What’s On the Ballot?: Anti-Corruption, Aid for Ukraine, and Political Stability in the Upcoming Bulgarian Election

FinnishGovernment, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Bulgaria is scheduled to hold snap Parliamentary elections on April 19th. These elections are scheduled as a result of massive anti-corruption demonstrations, which led to the resignation of Rosen Zhelyazkov’s government, a member of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, also known as GERB, which is... Continue Reading →

Chile’s Kast Seeks to Tighten Northern Borders

U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Jack Kolesar In the wake of his 2026 inauguration, Chile’s new head of state, President José Antonio Kast, has moved forward on a central pledge of his presidential campaign. Kast’s “Border Shield,” a network of border security infrastructure, is now under construction. This initiative seeks... Continue Reading →

Quiet Death, Loud Implications: US Sinks Iranian Ship Off Coast of Sri Lanka

Mehr News Agency, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Noah Eubanks On March 4, a U.S. attack boat torpedoed and sank Tehran’s 1,500‑ton Moudge‑class frigate IRIS Dena about 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, killing 84 Iranian sailors and injuring 32, with many more missing. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it... Continue Reading →

Canada’s Prime Minister Builds ‘Middle Power’ Bonds in Trip Across Asia and Australia

Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), GODL-India https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf, via Wikimedia Commons By Brooke Bihl Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, recently completed a nine-day trip across Asia aimed at strengthening trade relationships and deepening bonds among middle powers by visiting India, Australia, and Japan. This comes after Carney announced late last year that Canada intends to double its... Continue Reading →

US and Israel Strike Iran: What We Know and What it Could Mean for the Future

Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Mia Durham On February 28th, the United States and Israel conducted coordinated airstrikes on Iran. President Trump claimed that the goals of the operation were to encourage the removal of the authoritarian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei regime, to remove all of Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities, and... Continue Reading →

Polish Prime Minister and President Clash Over Security Funding

Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, meeting with European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola in 2024Gov.pl, CC BY 3.0 PL https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/pl/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons By Ionut Moga The Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, and the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, are in disagreement over an EU loan. Specifically, the question is whether Poland should access funds from the... Continue Reading →

Bangladesh’s 2026 Election: a Pivotal Moment for Democracy

Gathering for Tarique Rahman, 2026 Frameofashik, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Noah Eubanks Bangladesh’s 2026 election is a pivotal transition to democracy following the Gen-Z protests that forced leader Sheikh Hasina into exile in 2024. Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won by a landslide on Thursday, positioning Rahman to become the... Continue Reading →

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