As of March 19th, 2020, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has resulted in the death of 10,030 people from 244,786. Growth of the Coronavirus appears to continue on its exponential trajectory, and will result in the death of tens of millions if it is allowed to do so. Even keeping the Coronavirus under control could … Continue reading "The Grim Reaper is Spending More Time in Some Countries Than Other: The Coronavirus Pandemic in South Korea, Iran and Italy"

On October 11th 2019, Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts end the long running border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Abiy Ahmed has won plaudits both at home and abroad for his pardoning of 13,000 political prisoners, dramatic reduction of press censorship, efforts to liberalize the … Continue reading "Democracy’s Steep Learning Curve: Can Abiy Ahmed Complete Ethiopia’s Political Transformation"

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, 6.3 million refugees have fled the country with 3.6 million alone living in Turkey. We are today at the precipice of another surge in refugees from the war-torn country. Over the last several years, massive Russian and Iranian support of the Assad regime has allowed … Continue reading "Idlib’s Last Stand: Turkey’s Intervention, and the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Syria"

Since the first diagnosis of the Novel Coronavirus in December of 2019, the disease, as of February 23rd 2020, has infected 79,561 people and killed 2,619. The disease is rapidly spreading throughout the world, with recent outbreaks in Iran, Italy and South Korea. The Coronavirus is a pandemic moving so fast that it is likely … Continue reading "Solid Foundation or Feet of Clay: Can China’s Public Health System Contain the Novel Coronavirus"

According to the bible, the 8th plague God sent to Egypt, was one of locusts. East Africa, after suffering drought , cyclones, and army worm infestations is set to suffer a plague of locusts of biblical proportions. The current plague of desert locusts originate from the deserts in the interior of Yemen. The 2019 cyclone … Continue reading "A Plague Upon All the Houses: East Africa’s Devastating Locust Infestation"

On February 22nd, 1799 the Qing dynasty executed Heshen, who was a euncuch, courtier, and lover of previous emperor, for accumulating a spectacular fortune through acts of blatant corruption. Confucian emperors and Communist Chairmen have long been punishing and executing corrupt officials, but like a weed, corruption always returns to previous levels. Since the beginning … Continue reading "The Mountains Are High, and the Emperor is Far Away: Xi Jinping’s Neverending War on Corruption"

Since 2011, Venezuela has become a byword for economic mismanagement and poverty. The collapse of the price of oil in 2011 revealed massive rot in the countries economic infrastructure. Mismanagement of the oil fields led oil production to collapse from 2.4 million bbd to 700,000 bbd. Hyperinflation soared to 10,000,000%. The economic collapse has led … Continue reading "Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan: Venezuela Steps Back From Socialism"

In 2004, Atul Bihari Vajpayee and his political party, the BJP, entered elections with high hopes. Economic liberalization had accelerated GDP growth to 7.9% , and the BJP launched its campaign with the slogan “India Shining”. However, for hundreds of millions of people, India was far from shining. Inequality had been rising since the beginning … Continue reading "At Long Last, A Little Bit of Competence: Democracy, State Capacity, and Constructing the Welfare State"

Starting from December of 2019, mysterious cases of people suffering from a disease pneumonia like symptoms emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Market. Public health officials have come to the conclusion that this disease is a novel coronavirus (nCoV), from the same family of illnesses as SARS … Continue reading "The Coughs Heard Round the World: China and the World Tries to Contain the Wuhan nCoV Outbreak"

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is notable for the dubious honor of surpassing India as the nation with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty, and the largest number of people suffering from malnutrition in the world. Since 2014, per capita income in Nigeria has been in steady decline, with prospects for future … Continue reading "Nigeria’s Reverse Midas Touch: How Poor Institutions Make Sustained Development Impossible"