Author: Sydney Nam

SEATTLE — Oil reserves and territories rich in gas and coal have historically been points of cross-border and inter-border conflicts. Whether demarcated by claims of national sovereignty or by ethnic background, groups have always sought to control energy reserves. Why? Simply, because very little can function without energy and those who control the source of energy hold power, which can be leveraged. Contemporary conflicts, such as the prolonged Iraqi wars and territorial disputes in the South-China sea have in part stemmed from conflicts over oil. Energy security and poverty are closely interlinked, and countries need to shift their priorities to…

CAMEROON — The Republic of Cameroon lies on the western coast of Central Africa, with Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic as its immediate neighbors. The country, as it is known today, was created in 1961 with the unification of two colonies under the French and British empires. Before that, Cameroon had been colonized since 1520 by the Portuguese and then by the Germans in the late 1800s. The Current State of Cameroon Classed as a lower-middle income country, Cameroon has struggled with political corruption and economic stagnation, in part due to centuries of being subjugated to western colonization.…

The Kingdom of Tonga is a constitutional monarchy made up of a collection of islands in the South Pacific. Of its 170 islands, only 36 are inhabited. The population, at approximately 106,000, primarily resides on the island of Tongatapu. Human rights in Tonga are generally respected, with low rates of poverty and high standards of education and health. As in all countries across the world, there is room for improvement, specifically when it comes to women’s rights. According to a U.S. State Department report on human rights in Tonga, domestic violence, discrimination against women and women’s lack of rights to…

ASMARA — Eritrea is a small African nation on the north-eastern coast by the Red Sea. Modern history dictates the rocky journey to modern-day Eritrea. After being granted its liberation from Italy in 1947, it was swiftly annexed by its neighbor, Ethiopia. Following thirty years of war for its independence, the United Nations moderated referendum saw Eritrea become its own nation in April 1993. In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front grabbed political power and established a one-party state. Since then, there has not been another election. Human rights in Eritrea were abused during war…

SEATTLE — With every passing day, the world’s population inches closer to eight billion people, with research estimating it will reach nearly 10 billion by 2050. Alongside this population growth comes the increasing strain on resources needed to sustain the demand for food, energy and even space. Urban and rural planning for new cities will have to account for the growing demand for resources, but also for emerging security threats such as environmental degradation. A creative approach toward solving these issues has been “ecofying” architecture, which entails incorporating green ecosystems into the engineering of buildings. Currently, the most notable example…

SEATTLE — Following the recent impeachment of now ex-President Park Geun-Hye, South Korea has seen huge political shifts in its long-standing norm. The snap election saw the appointment of liberal Moonjoo party member Moon Jae-in, breaking the conservative Saenuri Party’s decade-long hold on the presidency. North and South Korean relations will likely see new strategies for peace with President Moon’s appointment. Foreign governments and political pundits alike have waited to see how North and South Korean relations would be affected by the new government in Seoul’s Blue House. Opting for the carrots option over sticks, President Moon borrows from his…

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s recent development is the result of more than two decades of economic growth and efforts to reduce poverty. For many economists and politicians, Cambodia is a success story as a country that went from a low-income to a lower-middle income status. The official distinction between different statuses is based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita with low-income being less than $1,025 and lower-middle income being between $1,026-$4,035. Causes of poverty in Cambodia were largely due to ineffective and oppressive governments, which failed to lift Cambodia out of poverty after the civil war between 1959 and…

BEIJING — As the second-largest economy in the world, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is an economic giant. However, despite its political and economic standing on the international stage, human rights in China are under severe scrutiny. Considering its vast landmass and the corresponding disparity between its metropolitan cities and its poor rural areas, the scale of China’s human rights abuses is enormous. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 states that all humans are “born free and equal in dignity and rights.” The Chinese government’s most extensive contemporary abuse is its control of the internet,…

MONROVIA, Liberia — Why is Liberia poor? The answer is long and nuanced, the multifaceted causes are deeply ingrained in the system of governance and socioeconomic ecosystem. However, one of the most widely spread root causes for nation-wide poverty is violent conflict. This is certainly the case for Liberia, the West-African nation originally founded in 1821 by former American slaves under the American Colonization Society. Founded on pillars of liberty and freedom, its recent history is marred by a coup in the 1980s, which followed with years of civil war, a repressive government under Charles Taylor until 2003 and then…

SEATTLE — There are 22 small island countries and territories in the South Pacific. Amongst them are Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Tonga. Each faces many issues. Fighting poverty in the South Pacific islands poses a unique challenge. The islands’ widespread geographical locations across approximately 19 million miles of ocean and diverse cultures do not allow for a single strategy to be implemented. While these islands share a host of similar challenges, such as vulnerability to environmental disasters and limited domestic markets, they are also at varying stages of socioeconomic development. In Papua New Guinea,…