Russia didn’t attend the 75th birthday of the Geneva Conventions. Are the treaties that govern how nations conduct war still relevant in today’s chaotic world? Members of the UN Security Council mark the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva...
Use this piece to explore international relations, geopolitics, the politics and history of conflict. Last month marked the 75th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. Russia didn’t attend. Political Scientist Daniel Warner decodes whether the treaties that govern how nations conduct war are still relevant in today’s chaotic world.
Exercise: Debate. Split students into groups. In each group, divide students into two teams. One will defend the Geneva Conventions, the other is against the conventions. In preparation, watch this video and share the ICRC website. Each team undertakes research to build an argument for their case. Ask students to debate the issue. After the debate, discuss the difficulties teams had in supporting their arguments.
Hungary is not known for welcoming immigrants. But in a country where the language is difficult to master, many immigrants might simply choose to move on. A man asks a woman for help in Ukrainian and she tells him to please speak Hungarian. This article was produced...
Can even leaders on the wrong side of history be credited for good outcomes? Can awful leaders be awe-inspiring? Then-Libyan President Moammar Gaddafi arrives in Venezuela, 25 September 2009 to attend the Africa-South America, ASA, summit. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)...
As half the world goes to the polls this year, Jeremy Solomons asks: Can even leaders on the wrong side of history be credited for good outcomes? Can awful leaders be awe-inspiring? Explore leadership, leaders and their legacies with your class and push them to develop their critical thinking and argumentation skills.
Exercise: Choose a controversial leader, dead or alive. You may agree or disagree with their position, politics or legacy. Build a picture of some of their decisions that had widespread negative impacts and find some positive aspects to their leadership. Next, play devil’s advocate and try to argue the good or positives that may have come from negative decisions. How might people on both opinion sides see the leader’s legacy? To conclude, students can express their own views on the matter and find nuanced arguments and discourse to express these.
A selfie on the Olympic podium of competing ping pong players from North and South Korea reminds us of the ability of sports to bridge political divides. North Korea’s Ri Jong Sik, left, and Kim Kum, foreground left, with their bronze medals, China’s Wang...
Drones are being used in warfare in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. Other nations have them. How did we get to this point and how much should it worry us? Ukrainian servicemen of the Ochi reconnaissance unit launch a drone to fly over Russian positions at the...
After four decades and some 40 millions deaths, can we end this worldwide health crisis? A human T cell (blue) under attack by HIV (yellow), the virus that causes AIDS. Credit: U.S. National Cancer Institute This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s...
Go back three decades and the trend was towards global democracy. Now we see rising authoritarianism. Are we looking at global autocracy? Military tanks. (Credit: Mikhail Shapovalov/Getty Images) This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news...
The chaos taking place in Venezuela over its recent election feels like a rerun. Why can’t a nation rich in oil satisfy the needs and desires of its people? Nicolas Maduro dances outside the Miraflores presidential palace after electoral authorities declared him...
Why the winner of the most votes in the U.S. presidential election might lose the presidency. A map shows the results of the Electoral College in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the results of the general election. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article...
Change in leadership in the two countries brings the possibility of rapport. But there is a long history of hostility that is hard to overcome. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, speaks after giving his official seal of approval to newly-elected President...
