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…

By Shea Fanelli The Organization for Economic Development (OECD) is an international organization which promotes policies to help stimulate economic progress and world trade across borders. The OECD has attempted to accomplish these goals by improving international tax cooperation between countries. By identifying trends in tax planning, the OECD assists governments in recognizing risks and countering international tax avoidance and evasion. Base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) refers to “tax planning strategies that exploit gaps” in the architecture of the international tax system to artificially shift profits to places where there is little or no economic activity or taxation. In other words, these tax planning strategies “move” profits across borders to…

By Mirza Hadzic This summer, Russia is hosting the FIFA World Cup, and some are already predicting it to be a disaster.  In 2010, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association(“FIFA”) selected Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.  Since FIFA’s controversial selection, there has been an intense public discussion about moving the tournament to another country. Critics have cited racism, doping, and a wide array of other political reasons Russia should have been stripped from hosting the tournament.  Nonetheless, FIFA declined all requests for the tournament to be moved and the World Cup is still scheduled to take place in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

By Marissa Perry Sharpe On Friday, March 24, millions of kids and allies marched for what was said to be the “biggest gun control protest in a generation.” While in America the protest stems from issues with the application of the 2ndAmendment of the U.S Constitution, places like London, Paris, Mauritius, Tokyo, Stockholm, Sydney, Geneva, Mumbai and Berlin also marched in solidarity.

By Athena Pantelopoulos Since the announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement in November 2017, the world has been abuzz with royal wedding excitement. With a wedding date set for May 19, 2018, Meghan Markle is soon to become the second American and first person of mixed race heritage to marry into the British Royal Family. A generation ago, it simply would not have been that a divorced, mixed race, Hollywood actress would marry the son of the next King of England.