Every Spring Festival, millions of Chinese people return to their ancestral villages in the countryside to celebrate. It’s often advised not to travel in China during this time: prices are high, stores are closed, and train tickets are hard to come by. But the chance to experience this celebration firsthand was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Free […]

Democracy does not exist. Democracy cannot exist without the self-determination of the people who comprise it, and self-determination cannot exist in this age. Nowadays, nothing can be freely chosen. We live in a society where what we think comes neatly packaged and pre-thought: through the media, entertainment, populist politicians, and, most of all, by treating […]

For far too long, the United States has refused to acknowledge the symbiotic relationship between security and sustainable development. We continue to treat them as separate issues rather than mutually reinforcing priorities. Under the Trump administration, security is pursued through short-term military operations that directly undermine international order and international la...

Until 2025, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) held significant stakes in major European airports, including Copenhagen, Bristol, Birmingham, and London City. A privately run fund, it generates $8.5bn in annual returns for Ontario teachers at no cost to the taxpayer. Meanwhile, German Beamtenpensionen, which cover not just teachers but also judges, police, and tax [...

I was not born in the United Kingdom, my ancestry is not British, and before 2019, I had never set foot in the country. Yet, this nation has marked my life in a special way. I grew up hearing anecdotes of a post-war Britain from my father, who lived on Baker Street in Marylebone as […]