By Zacharia Sonallah Last week, Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar came under criticism from both Republicans and Democrats after she criticized the role of pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States discourse.  Omar responded to a Tweet critical of lawmakers in the U.S. who defend Israel with the phrase “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” The line, popularized in a 1997 rap song by “Puff Daddy & The Family,” uses the term “Benjamins” to refer to hundred-dollar bills.  Omar’s comments received a wide array of reactions.  Some leaders accused Omar of anti-Semitism, while fellow lawmakers, such as congressmen Dan Kildee, Steny Hoyer and Rashida Tlaib all defended Omar against the accusation. Omar’s comment,…

By Delaney Moore During Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, he promised his supporters that, if he won the election, he would “improve” border security by building a wall separating the U.S. and Mexico.  Countless times he insisted that Mexico would foot the bill for the wall, not the U.S.  Flash forward to January 2019; Mexico is not paying for the wall and the U.S. government is experiencing the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has been partially shutdown due to Congress refusing to pass a spending bill that would allocate $5.7 billion to build Trump’s proposed wall.  Approximately 800,000 federal government employees have been…

By Chitra Dave There have been a series of developments in the ongoing feud between China and Canada. China has issued a travel warning to all of their citizens to warn of arbitrary detention at the request of a third-party country.[1]They have advised their citizens to be cautious of their actions and evaluate the risks before traveling to any Canadian province.[2]Canada has retaliated by issuing their own travel advisory against the Chinese. Canada cites arbitrary enforcement of Chinese criminal laws against non-Chinese nationals. Chinese-Canadian tensions reached a high in December 2018, with the arrest of Chinese national Meng Wanzhou, a HuaweiExecutivetrustee, in Canadaon espionage charges. On December 1, 2018, Meng…

By Lydia Parenteau Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is a “global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices”.[1]  The company was started 30 years ago in China.[2]  Huawei currently employs 180,000 people; is close to launching a 5G network; and earned 92.5 million dollars in 2017.[3]However, in the last few months Huawei has been involved in multiple international transgressions. Notably, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver, Canada on December 1, 2018.[4]  The Canadian Government arrested Meng Wanzhou at the request of the U.S. Government.[5]  U.S. authorities allege that Huawei, to get around U.S. and European Union sanctions on Iran and Syria, created at least…

By Alexander Trunfio The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC for short) was founded in 1960 in order to coordinate and unify petroleum policies of the member countries, as well as to ensure the stabilization of the global oil market. The organization has had a profound impact on the global oil market since it was established, and many of its members have enjoyed the agreement, as it has given the member countries true sovereignty over their natural resources. However, not all members have been totally satisfied with the agreement. Qatar announced Monday that it would be pulling out of the agreement at the beginning of 2019. Qatar currently produces about…

By Nick Carter Brexit has been a rocky transition for the UK. The country has faced an abundance of issues in trying to move forward with the withdrawal since invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union (making its intention to withdraw from the EU official) in March 2017. The most recent cause for Brexit-related concern has been the uncertainty surrounding the status of Gibraltar (yes, Gibraltar) upon the UK’s exit from the EU. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located right below Spain. Since it is classified as a UK dependent, it will go as the United Kingdom goes. Thus, it is slated to withdraw from the…

By Justin Santabarbara Recent developments in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to leave more questions than answers. Amid all of the ambiguity, there are a number of facts for which we are certain: (1) Mr. Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Intelligence officials in Istanbul, (2) the Saudi government successfully lured Mr. Khashoggi to the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul for the purpose of obtaining a marriage license, (3) the Saudi government had previously attempted to coerce Mr. Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, (4) a Saudi “clean” team was deployed to the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul, before Turkish investigators were permitted to enter; and (5) each individual that has been…

By Cory Poplawski The European Union’s latest data protection legislation put data processors on the hot seat. The General Data Protection Regulation, commonly referred to as the GDPR, took effect on May 25, 2018 and has ruffled the feathers of many tech giants. With the ramifications of the GDPR hitting not just in the EU, but worldwide, conversation about the regulation is on the global stage. The GDPR’s enactment comes at a time when people are immersed in social media platforms and online shopping, offering personal data to anyone who asks for it with little thought. Once companies have your personal data, you have, in a sense, lost control of…

By Natalie Maier The U.S. is considering sanctions against Saudi Arabia in response to the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. President Trump has said very little to condemn the kingdom for the murder, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on October 23 that the U.S. maintains “a strong partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” As details of Khashoggi’s death have continued to unfold with little reaction from the U.S., the silence begs the question – will the U.S. take legal action, and, if so, how? In addition to revoking visas of the 21 Saudi nationals allegedly involved in the murder, Pompeo said that…

By Isaac Signorelli  Generally speaking, “currency substitution” occurs when one nation (the domestic nation) uses another country’s (the foreign nation’s) currency as their domestic legal tender. Because of this, the domestic nation will generally not have its own central bank, meaning their currency cannot be backed by their government. In turn, the domestic nation cannot borrow money from the international capital markets without having large reserves. This term generally has been coined as “Dollarization” because of the vast amount of countries that use the U.S. dollar as their domestic legal tender. The benefit to dollarization is that these countries receive the benefits of stability in the foreign exchange markets, but…