Nicholas Chanko

Editor's Note: This article is the second of a two-part series on the Middle East and North Africa's (MENA) shifting power dynamics. In Part I, Chanko explores the reasons behind the United States' waning influence in the region. CHINA In…
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Editor's Note: This article is the first of a two-part series on the Middle East and North Africa's (MENA) shifting power dynamics. In Part II, Chanko explores the strategic partnership between Russia and China, as a counterbalance to…
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On September 25th, Iraqi Kurds voted overwhelmingly in an independence referendum to separate from Iraq and become an independent state. Immediately thereafter, the Iraqi government called for the result of the vote to be annulled and began…
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Stunting (also referred to as stunted growth or nutritional stunting) is the limited growth of human development in early life, measured by height. If a child’s height is two standard deviations less than the median, based on the World…
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Nearly every nation in Sub-Saharan Africa has faced power traps and institutional instability since their independence from European colonialism. Over the past four decades, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have…
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In early January, SeaWorld announced the end of its infamous killer whale show. This followed an act signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown in September of 2016 that banned the breeding of orcas in captivity and their use in…
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The United States is home to the largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the world and has some of the most producer-friendly policies. American Big Pharma makes up a whopping 35% of world production; the U.S. is…
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On May 9th, President Trump fired FBI Director Comey – only the second time an FBI director has ever been fired in the bureau’s 108-year existence. The following day, he shared sensitive classified information to Russian officials in…
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On September 14, 1930, the first dust storm traversed the Southern Plains, wandering through southwest Kansas and into Oklahoma. At the time, the local weather bureau didn’t know what it was exactly, but simply noted it as an anomaly and…
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On January 20th Donald Trump became the President of the United States and entered the White House with a gaggle of close contributors and campaigners. Few were expecting the power plays his administration made within the first two weeks…
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THE ‘IRRATIONAL’ CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA On the 8th of November California became the fifth state to pass a ballot measure that will legalize recreational marijuana use. Twenty-nine states and the District of Colombia have laws…
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My intention is not to bore you with the complexities of Marx’s writing, nor is it to provide a comprehensive explication of his often convoluted teachings—which would require innumerable hours of work on both our parts. Rather, I hope to…
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Construction of Energy Transfer Partners’ oil pipeline has been halted by the efforts of over a thousand American Indian protesters including a lawsuit brought by Earthjustice on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. President Obama…
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Impoverished Americans face a myriad of problems unknown to the middle and upper class, the most significant of which are regressive costs. Officially, 14.8% of people in the United States live in poverty. Furthermore, 20% of Americans use…
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On May 21st 2016 at 6am, Mohammad Azam’s family lost one of its members and sole economic provider. Mohammad was killed in a drone strike while innocently performing his job as a taxi driver. His passenger, and the target of a CIA executed…
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The 2016 Presidential elections cycle is an historical anomaly in American politics. From a record-setting seventeen Republican primary candidates to the most successful campaign led by a self-identified socialist candidate, there are few…
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