Monitors display a video showing facial recognition software in use at the headquarters of the artificial intelligence company Megvii, in Beijing, May 10, 2018. Beijing is putting billions of dollars behind facial recognition and other technologies to track and control its citizens. (Gilles Sabrié/The New York Times)

China’s Emerging Data Governance Regime: A Bid for New Norms

Over the past year, China has built up a comprehensive set of data governance policies dictating the use and sharing of citizens’ information. The differences between Chinese compliance requirements and those of European or North American countries illustrates China’s unique conception of privacy and offers an alternative set of data governance norms for authoritarian states.

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Actions vs. Words: The US Approaches to Libya and Syria

Quick intervention in Libya prevented a massacre. Empty words did nothing to halt massacres in Syria. Ten years after the Arab Spring, leaders should learn this lesson.

What to Expect from Russia’s Leadership of the Arctic Council

With Russia assuming chairship of the Arctic Council, what can we expect to see over the next two years? Here are four predictions for topics of focus, preferred partners, and institutional structure.

When the Push Outweighs the Pull: The Root Causes of Immigration from the Northern Triangle

The demographics of US-bound migrants are rapidly changing as the influx of single, Mexican adult males from the early 21st century is being replaced by a rise in children, mainly of Central American nationality. The causes of these trends are not surprising as parents of the Northern Triangle countries of Central America are continuing to send their unaccompanied children on the treacherous thousand-mile-plus journey to escape conditions endemic to their homelands. As these migration rates will likely only rise in the years to come, it is crucial that the United States re-evaluate its immigration policy to directly address the push factors that are the root causes of the recent growth in emigration rates from the region.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi receives the presidential sash from outgoing president Joseph Kabila after being sworn in in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thursday Jan. 24, 2019. Tshisekedi won an election that raised numerous concerns about voting irregularities amongst observers as the country chose a successor to longtime President Kabila. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Felix Tshisekedi’s Newly-Independent Agenda for the DRC: Modernizer or Strongman 2.0?

Two years into his tenure as President of the DRC, Tshisekedi has only just thrown off the influence of his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Now, with total control over his political agenda, the DRC’s leader appears torn between a modern agenda of regional integration and authoritarian repression tactics.

Y7 Statement on COVID-19

By Charged Affairs Editors | April 15, 2020 |

Young Professionals in Foreign Policy is acting as host for this year’s Y7 summit. Youth delegates from all seven countries prepared a statement for G7 representatives, published in its entirety below, articulating a strong call to action from their generation to the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations.