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 →
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 →
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 →
Semiconductor PanelFritzchensFritz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Katie Braman On February 12, 2026, the United States and Taiwan finalized a new trade agreement between the two nations. This agreement brings along major tariff reductions, lowering the U.S. tariff rate for imports from Taiwan to 15% from the previous 20,% as well as committing Taiwan to a schedule for lowering or eliminating tariffs on nearly all US goods. Taiwan... Continue Reading →
Mexican Navy Ship Arm BravoU.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brien Aho, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Brooke Bihl Two Mexican Navy ships carrying humanitarian aid have docked in Cuba after a U.S. blockade cut the island off from receiving fuel supplies. The ships reached a local port in Havana two... Continue Reading →
President Yamandu Orsi Intendencia de Montevideo, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Jack Kolesar In January 2026, Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi embarked on one of Montevideo's most ambitious diplomatic missions in decades. Orsi led a delegation of 150 to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai with aims of expanding trade, investment, and... Continue Reading →
By Madelyn Williams After months of conflict, the Rwandan-backed M23 has signed a framework for peace with the Democratic Republic of Congo. These talks were held in Qatar with mediation support from the US and the African Union. The talks could not come fast enough, as thousands have been killed and displaced. M23 has pushed... Continue Reading →
By Abby Burczyk Since the end of October, Mali has been suffering from a widespread fuel blockade caused by a jihadist group. The fuel blockade has impacted nearly every aspect of life for Malians by forcing schools to close, impacting power supply to critical industries like healthcare, and resulting in food prices to dramatically surge.... Continue Reading →
By Brooke Bihl The Vatican has returned 62 artifacts from its large ethnographic collection to Indigenous peoples of Canada, as a part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous cultures in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV formally handed over the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, masks, moccasins, etchings, and supporting documentation... Continue Reading →
By Jack Kolesar In an October 19 runoff election across Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz Pereira was declared the next president of the South American nation. Paz, from the Christian Democratic Party, secured 54.6% of the vote over his opponent Jorge Quiroga.This victory signals a significant shift in the politics of Bolivia. Paz, a right-leaning centrist, will end... Continue Reading →
By Jack Kolesar On November 16, Chileans will head to the polls to vote for their next president, the successor to Gabriel Boric. With Boric, head of state since his 2021 election, barred from seeking another term due to term limits, voters must choose between a continued leftist government or a shift to a right-wing... Continue Reading →
The Patterson Journal of International Affairs 