Activities Night
September 16th 4:00-8:00 PM September 17th 4:00-8:00 PM
Venezuelan Illegal Mineral Extraction: State Compliance and Parallel Criminal Governance Systems
Writer: Andrea Iskandar Editor: Bérénice Louveau Over the past decade, the Venezuelan states of Amazonas and Bolivar have become a strategic mining frontier where paramilitary groups and criminal organizations have established illicit mining networks and gained control over extraction territories. The consolidation of this criminal governance is more than just a consequence of a collapsed
The Language of Nuclear Weapons: Sexual, Technostrategic, and Gendered
Written by: Abigail Francis Edited by: Penelope Cramer Delta One Launch Control Facility “Blast door art” taken by a McGill Professor Discussions of nuclear weapons are typically presented as objective and rational, removed from the influence of culture or identity, and at first glance, gender and nuclear weapons may appear unrelated. However, in her paper
The Sound of Silence: the Case of Myanmar’s Civil War and International (lack of) Responses
Written by: Ellie Litvack Edited by: Gabrielle Adams In 1962, the first James Bond movie was released, the Cuban Missile Crisis almost caused nuclear fallout, and John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. It was an eventful year for North America; but what about Asia? On the other side of the world, Myanmar’s
Reverse Migration and Criminal Adaptation: A New Phase in Venezuela’s Displacement Crisis
Written by: Andrea Iskandar Edited by: Kendall Fagan Venezuela’s displacement crisis, the largest in the Western hemisphere, is entering a phase with implications extending far beyond Venezuela and impacting international security. Since millions of Venezuelans fled the country due to economic collapse, political repression, and extreme insecurity, recent shifts in migration policies in the United
Taiwan’s Chip Industry: The “Silicon Shield”
Written by: Sophie Andrew Edited by: Bérénice Louveau In recent years, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, talks about a potential Chinese military invasion of Taiwan have intensified. It is generally agreed that, standing alone, a full military capture of Taiwan would be swift, though the possibility of American intervention has complicated the debate. Regardless,
The Open Face of American Power in Venezuela
Written by: Meline Tarpinyan Edited by: Penelope Cramer In January of 2026, the CIA undertook a mission dubbed “Operation Absolution Resolve,” in which they captured the sitting president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and brought him to New York to face charges of narco-conspiracy and cocaine trafficking into the US. This move, one of the latest
“Real Men are Soldiers and Real Soldiers are Men”: Hypermasculinity in Warfare
Written by : Abigail Francis Edited by: Carly Waiz Gendered roles in war are intensely consistent across all known human societies. Almost all historical cases of war-making have been met by leveraging strong gender norms to create troops of fighters who are almost exclusively male. The ongoing relationship between men, masculinity and violence is a
The Power of the Middle Power
Written by : Ellie Litvack Edited by: Bérénice Louveau No matter the political party one subscribes to, there’s something everyone can agree on: current international relations are in a precarious position, and NATO is at the precipice of major change. Back in 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in acquiring Greenland as an American
Innovation at a Cost: Is Artificial Intelligence the New Extractive Frontier?
Written by : Adrienne Calzada Edited by: Gabrielle Adams Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely described as the next technological frontier, promising efficiency, economic growth, and innovation. However, tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI consume significant amounts of energy and water, with global AI demand in 2027 being projected to account for