In-Depth Archive

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on the world’s population, two of the world’s most powerful countries, China and the United States, have released troubling new census data. Both countries, it seems, are facing national demographic declines that may soon threaten their economic prosperity—though the former will be much more affected than the latter. In April, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the slowest population growth—7.7 percent in a decade—since the 1930s. The nosedive was due to a combination of a declining birth rate, decreased immigration flows and significant mortality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the […]

Ever since the first cities emerged as a form of human settlement, urbanites have pondered their future. Plato’s “Republic,” written 2,400 years ago and still read on college campuses today, put forth a vision of Kallipolis, a beautiful “just” city-state run by a philosopher king who prioritized the “power of knowledge,” but who nevertheless resembles a benevolent dictator. A millennium and a half later, Thomas More’s landmark “Utopia” imagined a peaceful island metropolis where citizens would share goods and meals, learn a given trade and worship freely—albeit while also enslaving people, though many believe the inclusion of slavery was more ironic […]

There’s only one place in all of Singapore where citizens can organize protests and demonstrations without prior police permission—Speakers’ Corner, in Hong Lim Park. In June 2019, at the last in-person Pink Dot rally before the coronavirus pandemic moved most activism online, it was packed. For years, Pink Dot, an annual gathering held at the park to demand LGBT rights in Singapore, has consistently attracted 10,000-20,000 people. But what stood out most about the crowd that day in 2019 was how young so many of the attendees were: teenagers and young adults waving Pride flags and having picnics with their […]

In early June, jihadist militants in Burkina Faso raided homes and the local market in Solhan, a village close to the border with Niger. By sunrise, they had killed at least 160 civilians in what local officials said was the country’s worst terrorist attack in years. Though particularly shocking for its scale, the attack is the latest expression of an ongoing and escalating conflict. Since 2016, Burkina Faso has been home to a jihadist insurrection that has thrown the country into an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” according to the United Nations, and displaced more than 1 million people—a number that has increased […]

On Sunday July 11, Cuba was rocked by an unprecedented public display of opposition as thousands of people joined nationwide demonstrations against the government. The largely spontaneous outbursts underscored the depth of Cuba’s social and economic crisis and pose a huge challenge to President Miguel Diaz-Canel and the ruling Communist Party. They have also forced the issue of Cuba to the top of U.S. President Joe Biden’s agenda.  The first demonstration began that morning in a park outside the Catholic Church of San Antonio de los Banos, a small town on the outskirts of Havana. By prior arrangement, several dozen […]