Working in the Shadows: Mumbai’s Home-Based Female Artisans
Second-place Submission for the 2026 High School Essay Competition.
Asia-Pacific
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Australia’s Digital Detox: The Politics of a Nationwide Social Media Ban
On December 10th, 2025, Australia became the first country to implement a nationwide social media ban. At midnight, the Social Media Minimum Age Act came into effect, deactivating millions of accounts belonging to anyone under the age of 16. Zoe, a teenager from Brisbane, described the chaos that ensued the day the ban was passed: “We’d all heard about it, but nobody thought it was going to happen,” she said. “Everyone was shocked.”
“They Control the Sky”: The Burmese Junta’s War Against the State
Stirrings begin before dawn. Rice is eaten by the fire while it is still dark. People move quietly, carrying only what they can, riding on horseback or on four-wheel drive trucks when danger requires it. There is a short pause around midday for some packed rice by a stream, then they continue on. Camps are temporary, fires a luxury for when the Burma Army is far enough away. No one stays anywhere long enough to feel secure.
New Leaders: Japan’s Dormant Conservatism and the Rise of Sanae Takaichi
On August 15, 2025, hundreds filled the broad walkways of Yasukuni Shrine for the annual commemoration of the official end of World War II. The line moved slowly—but the conversations did not.
Visiting the site for academic research, Ryne Hisada ’27, a Japanese-American student at Yale University, expected a quiet, somber atmosphere in respect for the deceased.
Instead, he found himself surrounded by raised voices. Visitors weren’t whispering about politics, but arguing about it in full volume.
Embattled and Emboldened: The Many Fronts of India’s Grand Strategy
Since the early 2000s, buttressed by the weight of its technological advancement and marshaled by burgeoning ideological schisms, India has forged an increasingly complex net of strategic relations. Accordingly, the landscape of Indian international affairs, divided between India, America, and…
A Divine Absence: Three Decades after the kidnapping of the Panchen Lama
On an otherwise sedate afternoon in May 1995, residents of a remote village in Lhari, Northern Tibet, watched in stunned silence as armed men stormed into one of the town’s homes, snatched a family of herders, and fled as quickly…
Understanding China’s Current Real Estate Crisis
Over the past year, news agencies alleged that Chinese real estate developers operate as Ponzi schemes and are on the brink of collapse. This assertion demands sufficient evidence as such behavior may harbor financial crimes that, if exposed, could damage…
Chinese Public Opinion and the Ukraine War
A common view of Russia in China is that of the “Warrior Nation,” strewn in daily conversation and in hashtags on social media. This portrayal has only intensified with the Russo-Ukrainian war: when the warrior nation indeed waged war, new…