Did I visit four countries in a month while studying at SAIS? Yes, I did. One of the most distinctive aspects of living and studying in Washington, D.C. is being surrounded by embassies. Through SAIS’s regional student clubs and other student groups, there are frequent opportunities to visit them. Over time, this has become one […]

“Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is dead.” These words, spoken by U.S. President Trump shortly after the beginning of the U.S./Israeli war against Iran, were words many Iranians had waited decades to hear. Khamenei had ruled Iran brutally for the past 36 of the 46 years the regime had been in power. He presided […]

How important is local governance at the city level in a democracy? What should public service look like in practice? I began to understand the answers to these questions during my time working in Boston, often called the birthplace of American democracy, at Boston City Hall. In the summer of 2025, I was selected as […]

“Israel is returning to Zambia. Israel is returning to Africa,” said Israeli foreign affairs minister Gideon Saar in August. Israel reopened its embassy in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, after 52 years of closure. Months later, on December 26, 2025, Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland, a disputed breakaway territory of Somalia. Weeks later, Israel […]

A new social media trend called “Chinamaxxing” has young Westerners declaring themselves “becoming Chinese.” Scrolling through TikTok and Instagram readily yields droves of posts featuring people “in a Chinese time of their life,” wearing house slippers, making hot apple tea, eating hotpot, or praising China as a model society. These posts are often set to […]