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The Dictator’s Playbook: Poverty Perpetuating Power Structures in Azerbaijan and Chad

By Ben Calkins

This article looks at poverty in Azerbaijan and Chad, which are both authoritarian states that have been dominated by dictators for years. This is a valuable ethical topic to address widespread poverty in both nations while their dictators, generals, and top bureaucrats enjoy lavish lifestyles. Poverty in Azerbaijan and Chad are at least partly the result of deliberate policy changes designed to keep the population impoverished and the ruling class wealthy. Azerbaijan and Chad also enjoy access to valuable natural resources, yet the dictators prefer to distribute most of the profits to support their own power rather than their people. The goal of this article is to analyze the relationship between dictatorship and poverty in Azerbaijan and Chad, with a focus on poverty ethics, paying close attention to how dictatorship creates and prolongs suffering.

Read the full article: The Dictator’s Playbook

Disappearing Forests: Climate Change and Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazil

By Willem Ells

This article looks at climate change and deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Brazil. Brazil and the DRC are currently the top two countries in terms of destroying the largest area of primary forest annually. Slash-and-burn agriculture—a destructive method of farming that destroys large plots of land—is a major contributor to the deforestation problem in both Brazil and the DRC. Deforestation worsens climate change because large forests are effective at absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and because it directly releases carbon. While deforestation has destructive effects on the atmosphere, it is a complicated issue because crops harvested on land clearcut for agriculture are the primary source of income for many impoverished people in both these countries. This article will consider the economic effects of deforestation, its relation to climate change more broadly, and the ethical issues necessary to consider when deciding what future policy courses may be appropriate.

Read the full article: Disappearing Forests

Trade in Indonesia and Thailand: A Double-Edged Sword

By Annika Hopkins

For the past several decades, trade in Indonesia and Thailand have been challenged by China’s burgeoning development and trade evolution. Albeit Thailand’s open economic attitude and Indonesia's increased participation in East Asian trade the two nations’ trade development has remained stagnant as a result of the China-centered trade in the region and beyond. Trade and globalization in Indonesia and Thailand can be characterized using two terms: dependency and competition. Both nations lack a strong economic base and economic policies to rival that of China but both nations face great opportunity to notably improve trade and commerce. Both nations rely heavily on their exports to foreign nations, most notably China and the United States, making for unrealized opportunities in the realm of trade and globalization. This article analyzes the key factors of trade and globalization that have hindered the economic development of Indonesia and Thailand as well as some ethical aspects of trade and globalization that each country faces.

Read the full article: Trade in Indonesia and Thailand

Inequality in Brazil and Argentina: Progress and Regress

By Clara Tully

This article analyzes and compares inequality in Brazil and Argentina, two large and populous countries in Latin America. Both countries have experienced economic growth in recent years but have also suffered from high levels of inequality. In both Argentina and Brazil, income inequality has remained a persistent issue, but inequalities in access to essential services such as education and healthcare have also played an important role. Both countries have also implemented some policies to combat inequality which, though they have had equalizing effects, are generally deemed to have been insufficient.

Read the full article: Inequality in Brazil and Argentina