Journalists tend to depict conflict as violent struggles between good and bad. There is a different way to think about war. Syrian refugee children in Lebanon (Wikimedia Commons/Trócaire/Eoghan Rice) Editor’s note: This week News Decoder is exploring the future...
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the UN for failing to stop Russia’s invasion. But to do more would mean changing how the United Nations works. Ukraine’s president Zelensky criticizes the United Nations for not doing enough to stop the war, during...
ND photojournalist Enrique Shore takes us to the 78th UN General Assembly in his piece covering Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech condemning Russia’s invasion of his country. Is holding Russia accountable for its “unprovoked aggression” possible given the current United Nations structure?
Exercise: Read the article with your class, then have students analyze this political cartoon (symbolism, captions, dialogue, etc.). What parallels can students draw between the information in the article and the symbols in the political cartoon? How likely is reform of the current UN structure? Students can then create their own political cartoons depicting the structural tensions detailed in the article.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the “international community” stood back. But is there such a thing? What, if anything, can bring the world together? The entrance to the United Nations in Geneva is obscured by the emblems of a dozen international economic and...
Blaming the “international community” for inaction is easy. But does this community actually exist, or is it just tantamount to the United States and company? Correspondent Bernd Debusmann runs it down in this Decoder.
Exercise: Divide students into nine groups. Each group will be assigned one of the regional organizations mentioned in the article: NATO, European Union, Arab League, G-7, G-20, ASEAN, OAS, African Union, BRICS. Groups should research their assigned organization and identify the organization’s main objectives and stance on current international tensions (e.g. war in Ukraine, economic sanctions on North Korea, nuclear proliferation, etc.). Can these regional groups work together to create a true international community, or are their interests too disparate?
One Ukrainian journalist in exile sells art to help colleagues in peril back home as she waits for the war to end. Ukrainian journalist and artist Lyudmila Makei examines a painting of flowers on exhibit at the National Museum of Kosovo in June 2023. (Photo by...
Japan remains a global economic powerhouse and is becoming an ever closer political partner of the West. People walk at a pedestrian crossing in Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, 31 March 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) This article was produced exclusively...
ND correspondent and Asia specialist John West takes students to Japan in this Decoder explaining the island nation’s growing geopolitical importance and evolving defense strategy. Ranked the 17th-most democratic country in the world ahead of both the United States and France, Japan remains a key Western ally in a region fraught with tension.
Exercise: Geography has always played a significant role in the founding of civilizations and countries, shaping a nation’s economy and security. Launch a class discussion about how Japan’s geographic location and topography may have influenced the developments described in the article. Then, have students brainstorm how your country’s own geographic location (and geographic features like mountains, water sources, etc.) affects its role and influence on a world stage. This exercise is particularly well-suited to be a complementary lesson after students learn about the conditions of Japan’s surrender after World War II, highlighting the lasting effects of history in the present day.