IRR ONLINE

Russia’s reliance on Arctic resources is increasingly threatened by the rapid thawing of the permafrost, causing infrastructure collapse, the release of greenhouse gases, and increasing global temperatures. As climate change accelerates, Russia is facing mounting economic and geopolitical strain, compounded by shifting global markets and Western sanctions. With other Arctic nations expanding their presence in the region and Russia’s diminishing influence, the Kremlin must decide whether to adapt to the crisis or risk further economic and geopolitical decline.

On January 1, 2025, Russia cut off natural gas supply to Transnistria, a breakaway region of the Republic of Moldova. Russia hopes to strengthen its control in the region and inhibit Moldova from joining the European Union. The Russian decision to eliminate its supply of natural gas to Transnistria will influence the upcoming parliamentary elections, where Moldova and Transnistria will decide whether to retain the current pro-EU parliament.

Russian soldiers weaponize sexual violence to demoralize and inflict harm on the Ukrainian people during the Russo-Ukraine war.

While the rate of Cambodia’s growth may be uncertain, its rising geopolitical and economic presence within Southeast Asia cannot be downplayed, and its rising allegiance with China will likely mark it as the first of many countries to turn to China as a more reliable economic partner in the face of internal American turmoil.

Rising as a stable leader within the European Union, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has fostered close ties with both EU and foreign leaders. With President Trump’s return to the White House, Meloni hopes to form the transatlantic bridge between the EU and the U.S. Yet with recent negotiations between the U.S. and Russia excluding the EU and Ukraine, Meloni has tough decisions to make regarding her alliances.

On Dec. 3, 2024, chaos erupted in South Korea as President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, citing ‘anti-state’ threats. Within hours, the National Assembly overturned his decree, setting the stage for his impeachment and arrest. The crisis exposed deep political fractures but also reaffirmed the strength of South Korea’s democratic institutions. As the Constitutional Court weighs Yoon’s fate, the nation stands at a crossroads— between the threat of authoritarianism and the resilience of its democracy.

The issue of South African wealth inequality, the highest in the world, stemming from Apartheid, has haunted the Rainbow Nation for decades. However, the government has recently imposed the controversial Expropriation Act of 2024, which allows for expropriation without compensation. The question is whether these laws will help the country, based on previous failed expropriation without compensation measures by other African countries such as Zimbabwe, as well as, South Africa having to deal with vital US aid being cut off by President Donald Trump who opposes these laws.

Soon after returning to office for a second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that halted international spending for ninety days, a primary target being USAID. As one of the largest recipients of USAID, Ethiopia heavily relied on the agency’s funding for critical healthcare initiatives, many of which have since ended. As Ethiopia seeks alternative funding, the sudden loss of aid threatens to destabilize the healthcare system and leave millions vulnerable.

On October 1st, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president. Her Morena party won thumping majorities in both chambers of the legislature as well, laying the groundwork for radical socio-economic change. Mexico’s previous president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), was the architect for this electoral movement. By uplifting the poor through broad state spending, Morena has become the most popular party in Mexico’s modern history. President Sheinbaum’s meteoric rise proves that populist economics can coexist with democratic governance.

The 2011 Arab Spring protests were a series of mobilizations across seven states in the region that led to the ousting of former President Ben Ali in Tunisia and former President Mubarak in Egypt. While these two states were successful in their protest aims, protestors in other states, such as Syria and Bahrain, faced violent repression by their respective regimes. In 2019, both Iraq and Lebanon experienced waves of protest movements that mirrored those of the Arab Spring in both objectives and mobilization tactics. Dubbed the “Second Arab Spring,” these uprisings indicate the resilience of popular mobilization in the region.

As a result of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip, key healthcare facilities have been destroyed, and critical medicine and supplies have been blocked from reaching the people of Gaza, exacerbating the horrors of war Gazans are facing every day. In particular, the increasing devastation of healthcare can be seen in the horrific effects it is having on women, particularly pre and post natal women and children, as well as menstruating women. 

For the past 300 years, South Korea and Japan have been engaged in a territorial dispute over the small island of Dokdo. It is about time the ongoing contention comes to an end, for it symbolizes broader tensions and the unresolved history of Japan's occupation of Korea.

Putin attempted to shift global power dynamics after hosting a summit with the  intergovernmental organization of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) and receiving aid for the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war from North Korea.

In modern warfare, a revolutionary and unsettling entity is emerging: Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). These sophisticated machines are capable of independently selecting and engaging targets without human intervention and have the potential to rewrite the rules of engagement and challenge our understanding of ethics, responsibility, and International Humanitarian Law.

The Mexican Senate’s decision to abolish the current judicial system and allow citizens to elect judges has had extremely divisive effects, both domestically and internationally. Advocates for the change argue that it gives Mexicans a greater voice and limits graft and nepotism, while opponents worry the decision will slow the country’s economy and signal the end of judicial independence.

On Sunday, October 6, 2024 President Kais Saied of Tunisia won reelection in a landslide victory. The election has drawn significant attention and controversy due to its stark departure from the democratic norms embraced in Tunisia in the decade following the 2011 Tunisian revolution, in which citizens revolted against and ousted ruling dictator Ben Ali.

In August, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced that another election would be conducted on October 27 after a majority failed to be produced in June. This stagnant state of affairs in Bulgaria’s parliament not only creates political fatigue for Bulgarians nationwide but enables a much desired neutrality for Russia in its war in Ukraine.

In the wake of both the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and Donald Trump’s first election as U.S. President in 2016, far-right movements have experienced a surge of support in elections across Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze how a potential second Trump administration could affect these movements, highlighting the cases of Italy, Germany, and France.

This year’s election to determine the upcoming structure of Georgia’s 150-seat parliament was, to many, a turning point in its path  towards integration with the European Union (EU) or further alignment with its northern neighbor—Russia.

An overview of the ongoing controversy around Anastasia Trofimova’s documentary film Russians at War.

Nicolas Maduro securing a third presidential term signals a continuation of the current stagnant status quo. The inability to address inflation as well as mass unemployment and exodus of citizens would lead most other leaders to political ruin, however the revenue from state owned petroleum companies is keeping the regime viable. Venezuela and its people are the victim of the resource curse and its decades-long effects on the nation’s institutional, economic, and political stability.

Today, polio has almost been completely eradicated globally — except in Pakistan and Afghanistan. From anti-vaccine rhetoric to bans on door to door vaccination campaigns, the Taliban has directly impacted the healthcare sector’s abilities to effectively carry out polio vaccination efforts in Afghanistan; preventing the eradication of the disease in the country.

In the beginning of 2023, over a million people took to the streets to fight President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform bill. This bill, which increased the retirement age to 64, prompted union strikes and rioting all over France. With Macron’s centrist consensus collapsing, Marine Le Pen has fully capitalized on anti-immigrant scapegoating for votes. In response, leftist leaders have joined forces under a coalition called the New Popular Front (NFP), vowing to protect pensions and other social services. The NFP won the most seats in the 2024 legislative elections shortly after the party’s creation. Macron’s refusal to appoint a left-wing prime minister in spite of these results, highlights the desperation of France’s ruling class.

Italy has been at the forefront of the European migration crisis due to its immense Mediterranean coastline. With the election of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in 2022, anti-immigration discourse has increased, emphasizing the difficulty of dealing with the issue. As migrants overwhelm processing centers and smaller communities throughout the country, Meloni structured a deal with Albania to ease pressure on Italian social systems. Inspired, the EU has begun to consider similar projects outside the Union.

Kuwait’s Emir recently issued a decree suspending the state’s popular National Assembly and abrogating parts of the constitution for no more than four years. The move comes as the latest of the Gulf country’s efforts to improve the efficacy of its deadlocked political system which has been marked by excessive parliamentary debates. The move has not drawn widespread protests domestically or regionally, but international experts question whether or not the Emir’s actions will actually move Kuwait closer to a sound democratic process.

Mexico City is changing quickly as a result of international migration, implementation of new industries, and foreign investment. These developments modernize and boost the economy, but they also cause gentrification, displacing the local communities, and causing cultural homogenization, which raises concerns about social inequality and the maintenance of local traditions.

Chairman Xi announces additional support for the African Continent at the Beijing Forum.

For the first time in post-World War II Germany, a far-right political party has won a state election. The openly extremist right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) achieved a “historic success” in the eastern state of Thuringia on September 1. This victory serves as a grim reminder of the first Nazi state election win in 1930, which also occurred in Thuringia. 

The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are a hotspot of territorial disputes—particularly between the PRC and the Philippines. The discovery of potential oil reserves, along with overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs), has fueled tensions—leading to militarization and a growing frequency of skirmishes. Despite international condemnation and calls for cooperative resource management, the lack of a capable legal framework jeopardizes regional stability and the free flow of global trade.

Discussing the Olympic games and the controversy surrounding the international surfing competition. Analysis of the sustainability of sports tourism with a case study on environmental impact and the use of colonial overseas holdings for the Olympics.