The politics of the United States of America are somewhat different compared to other liberal democracies across the world. It is often difficult to summarize the catalysts, events, and ideologies that have shaped the American democratic system. A constant in…
Continue reading A House Divided: American Politics Feels the Weight of the Two-Party System
Per a 2019 Pew Research Center poll[1], only 36% of Republicans have a favorable view of the United Nations. Comparatively, 77% of Democrats and 60% of independents see the UN in a favorable light. This aligns with the global trend…
It used to be that the path to the American Dream was pretty straightforward and clear. You grow up, get an education, and find a job. Then you leave your parents’ home and move into one of your own. There,…
Continue reading How the Pandemic Brought a Surge in Multigenerational Living in the United States
In his inaugural address, President Biden remarked that “Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.” The scenes to which we were treated on our televisions on January 20th were, as…
The attack on the US Capitol is one week away as of writing this. The first few days were utter chaos and only now are we beginning to learn what actually happened and what the expected consequences are. The international…
Considering my situation in Finland, it’s easy to forget what kind of a fundamental right voting, making your voice heard in society, is. When an election closes in, I automatically get a letter detailing all I need to know: no…
Continue reading I Voted – But What about That Other Guy, and So What?
In just a month, unemployment went from 4.4% in March of 2020 to 14.7% in April as the coronavirus prompted shutdowns and mass layoffs. This left millions of Americans without jobs — and, in many cases, without the medical insurance…
Continue reading As America’s Unemployment Rate Surges, the Pandemic Proves We Need Medicare for All
More than sixty years ago, the Selma Race Riots in Alabama shone a spotlight on appalling racial inequality across the US and in other Western countries. It is a damning indictment of our times that, more than six decades later,…
Continue reading Behind Black Lives Matter Sits the Ghosts of Apartheid
Afghanistan has been in conflict since 1978. In 1979 the Soviets invaded, to prop up the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. When they left ten years later, a lengthy and brutal civil war followed (or rather continued), in which different factions…
Continue reading Is the War in Afghanistan Finally Coming to a Close?
This article is the part of a series by the IFLRY Climate Change Programme, looking at how different countries are implementing the Paris Agreement. An introduction to the series can be found here. The United States of America (USA), is a federal republic and representative democracy…
Continue reading USA: Pas de Paris! One Year Since Moving on From Paris
