Student Connections

On Saturday, September 21st, 2024, the South Asian nation of Sri Lanka voted in its tenth annual presidential election (Reuters). This was the first election for the island since the insufficiency of foreign currency pushed Sri Lanka into an unprecedented economic crisis in decades (Reuters). Sri Lanka’s crippling economy came after they defaulted on their […]

In recent years, there has been a push to increase the diversity of the federal government’s Intelligence Community (IC). The IC is the 18 organizations of the federal government that protect national security through the conducting of intelligence operations (ODNI 1). They hire individuals to collect or analyze intelligence, but they also have a need […]

The State Sponsorship of Terrorism (SSOT) list was founded in 1979 amidst the tail end of the Cold War and 17 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis. As determined by the U.S. Secretary of State, countries on the list have repeatedly supported international terrorism and are “designated pursuants” to multiple laws associated with restrictions on […]

A recent report from the British Broadcasting Center (BBC) brings renewed attention to a relatively unreported issue in the country of Yemen. The northern territories and the capital Sana’a are under the control of a terrorist group known as the Houthis. The group receives military support from Iran as well as the terrorist group Hezbollah […]

Both Sweden and Finland have remained politically neutral for over a century until the Russian invasion on Ukraine in February of 2022 (BBC 1). Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine broke a “long standing sense of stability” in Northern Europe, leaving countries like Sweden and Finland “feeling vulnerable” (BBC 1). Nordic countries have taken action to […]

On January 10, a United States federal report revealed that rates of cesarean delivery in Puerto Rico (PR) have soared 12% from 2018 to 2022 for each age group younger than 40 (The Guardian). Now Puerto Rico represents one of the world’s largest c-section rates at more than 50% of infants delivered through surgery. While […]

Puerto Rico’s tourism industry is among the most prominent sectors of the island’s economy–almost $8.9 billion was generated in 2022 alone from travel and tourism and the island has more than 91,500 individuals employed in tourism-related jobs in the same year. These are all record highs (PR Newswire). Making up half of all tourists that […]

To begin the discussion on this topic, what is the Jones Act? The Jones Act was ratified and put into effect in 1920 and makes it so that any goods that are transported between U.S. ports must be carried on American-constructed and American-owned ships that fly the U.S. flag with crews consisting of American citizens […]

The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7th 2023 has led to tensions in the Middle East skyrocketing. With conflict escalating in the region, the role of Iran and its relationship to militant groups operating throughout the region have become a new area of focus. For decades, Iran has been the most prominent state […]

With the nation’s first caucuses only a few months away, the issue of Puerto Rican statehood has become one of the latest topics of controversy among Republican candidates. In late October, the “Make America Great Again Inc.” SuperPAC endorsing Donald Trump shifted its campaign strategy to target fellow Republican candidate Ron DeSantis once again. The […]