What in the World

  Was it better for Honduras to switch their Allegiance to China, or should they stuck with Taiwan? “When I was in Taiwan, I was taught in school that Taiwan is a part of China.” -Alex Chiu. For years there has been a debate on whether Taiwan is a part of China or an independent country. During this time, many countries have switched their alliances from Taiwan to China, but why? Today, I will be answering the question; Was it better for Honduras to switch their allegiance to China? My answer to this question is yes, the switch of allegiance will benefit Honduras, however it raises concerns worldwide. Since this topic is pretty deep, we will be exploring this through 4 points: the background between these countries, the mistakes Taiwan made, then the benefits of switching to China, and finally, the impact this will bring throughout the world.         Before we get too deep into this topic, let's explore the background. According to Reuters, “Taiwan on ...

  Are Florida drag laws unconstitutional?  “Florida is where the woke to go to die”, Ron Desantis's words have been famously immortalized as the Florida governor’s anthem, and throughout his presidency, we can see that he did just that. The most famous of all decisions was his “don’t say gay bill”. Blocking transgender or homosexual ideology to be taught in Florida classrooms. But his newest piece of legislation may just bring up more anger and controversy than they don’t say gay bill. Today, we will be exploring the topic: Are Florida drag show laws unconstitutional? But before we begin with my points, let’s go over the background and key main facts about the issue at hand. LGBTQ rights activists are commonly known to raise awareness for their cause, by hosting events for children and adults in public places, such as libraries and parks or more private places. These have ranged from sexually explicit, or drag queens just reading an lgbtq+ book in the library to children but m...

  For a long time, China has wanted to gain control of the small, democratically governed island Taiwan, which China does not think should be viewed as a separate country. But Russia's war on Ukraine only made them more likely to invade. They have repeatedly flown fighter jets over Taiwan, in a display of military power. Today I am going to be answering the question: can the U.S. prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan? The answer to this question is no. We will be exploring this through three main points: the U.S. defending Taiwan, sanctions on China, and the results of a war to the U.S. When President Biden was asked in a CBS 60 Minutes interview whether the United States would defend Taiwan if it were invaded by China, his response was "yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack." When asked to clarify if the meaning of this was that actual U.S. troops would be in Taiwan defending them against China, unlike in Ukraine, he said "yes." But China is clear t...

  In this paper, I will be exploring the background of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreement, see what the effects on the Iranian economy would look like if they signed, and I will be analyzing the pros of signing the JCPOA agreement.  Before we start debating on whether the Iranian government should or shouldn’t sign the agreement, let's take a look at the background of the JCPOA. In 2016, the JCPOA was put into effect by the P5+1 with the intention to dispose of all Iran’s medium enriched uranium missiles and reduce their low enriched uranium missiles by 98%, in exchange for a 66% reduction on its western tariffs for the next thirteen years. But, in 2018, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA agreement. Since early 2021, talks have been held on whether the JCPOA agreement should be continued.     Now that we know what the JCPOA agreement is, we will see what the effects on the Iranian economy mig...

 Brexit “It's been four-and-a-half years since the British people voted to take back control of their money, their borders, their laws, and their waters, and to leave the European Union. And earlier this year we fulfilled that promise and we left on January the thirty-first.” -Former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson on December 24, 2020. In 2016, Britain decided to leave the European Union (also known as the EU) but actually left the trading bloc in 2020 after a transition period to allow enough time to agree to alternative trade deals. This event was known as Brexit. Today I will be answering the question: “Should Great Britain exit the Brexit?” –or in other words, should it rejoin the EU. The answer to this question is no, Britain should not exit the Brexit. We will be exploring this in three points: first, the history of Britain and the EU; second, the benefits for Britain to stay separate; and finally, the international impacts of this decision. To understand Britain and t...

  According to the United Nations Development Programme, “Today over 2 billion people - one third of the global population - are poor or near-poor and face persistent threats to their livelihoods, including from climate change. Estimates indicate that by 2030 more than 100 million people could fall back into extreme poverty.” We can see that both climate change and poverty are problems, but today I will be answering the question should the World Bank focus more on climate change or poverty eradication. The answer to this is that they should focus more on poverty eradication. We will be exploring this through the background, why they should focus more on poverty eradication, and finally the impact that this will bring. Before we get into a common debate within the World Bank, let's explore some background so we can understand the topic. First, what is the World Bank? Investopedia defines it as, “ An international organization dedicated to providing financing, advice, and research to...

      Is South Africa making a mistake by forming closer ties to Russia and China? "I'm not sure South Africa really realizes the potential backlash," said Steven Gruzd, head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Program. South Africa was set to launch a naval exercise with Russia and China on February 17, 2023 an act of forming closer ties to Russia and China. Today I am going to explain why this is a mistake in three points. First, what do Russia and China want? Second, why these naval drills are controversial, and lastly, how this negatively affects South Africa. Russia, China, and South Africa have recently wrapped up ten days of naval drills off the coast of South Africa, and we must ask, what do they want? atlanticcouncil.org put it plainly: “[South Africa’s] location aligns strategically with Russian and Chinese efforts to project naval power in African waters”. Denys Reva from South Africa's Institute for Security Studies said that, “[Russia] wil...