International Relations debate motions (page 2)

In 2019, Europe and the US announced regulations against Huawei, a major Chinese tech company, and banned their 5G technology. Donald Trump issued executive orders against TikTok and WeChat; these companies are also facing data regulations in the EU and US.

Via the Abraham Accords, Israel has normalized relations with UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan.

The Biafra war was a Nigerian Civil war in which the Majority tribes (Hausa and Yoruba) fought the resistance group Biafra (The Igbo tribe) after they declared independence from Nigeria. The war ended in 1970 with the win of the majority tribes after millions of people perished. Nigeria as a whole still largely remains divided due to arbitrary border lines, post colonial unrest, language barriers, religious differences and ethnic division. The Hausa and Yoruba tribe are the main majority tribes in Nigera, live in the most developed areas and were the groups who benefited most from the war and hold powerful positions in politics. Those in Igbo states complain there has been a lack of development, have growing hostillity towards the majority tribes and are forming fringe groups in opposition to the government. Nigerian Politics is already strained by Terrorist groups and general political and economic unrest

For the purposes of this debate, a 'kakistocratic court' is a court that determines whether politicians are fit to govern. These courts would operate similarly to, but outside of, existing legal systems. They would only have the power to strip individuals of the right to hold or run for office. They would not be able to issue any other punishments. These courts would not make judgments about an individual's character or competency, but rather would assess on the balance of probabilities whether individuals had committed acts that would disqualify them from the ability to govern. The list of these acts might include currently criminalised behaviour but could also include other acts that are not currently criminalised.

A Greenfield agreement is an agreement made between a union and a new employer, which does not yet have employees. This means that the future employees of that company effectively have no say in the conditions of their employment. Currently, under the Fair Work Act, unions cannot legally take industrial action during the negotiation of Greenfield agreements,

When Myanmar was ruled by the military junta, China was a backer of it in many ways during Western sanctions, including by being the military's largest arms supplier. However, the military suspected Beijing's involvement in financing numerous rebel groups in Myanmar, and fears of territorial conflict with China contributed to the junta's decision to partly democratize in 2011. After Aung San Suu Kyi became State Counselor in 2016, her party, the NLD, cultivated a close relationship with China due to the CCP's outreach to them, inviting NLD officials on nationwide tours and enabling Myanmar's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. In the aftermath of the 2021 coup that deposed Suu Kyi, China has faced significant backlash from the common public in Myanmar due to its unwillingness to condemn the coup like other countries (including the Biden administration, which has signalled an intent to impose economic sanctions).

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front is a political organization active in both India-controlled and Pakistan-controlled areas of Kashmir. The goal of this organization has been to push for a secular, independent Kashmir. In 2019, the JKLF was officially banned by the Indian government under an anti-terror law, after an attack on Indian security forces. It has recieved heavy support in both weapons and training from the Pakistani government in order to combat India. However, the JKLF's interests deviate from those of Pakistan, as it still views Pakistan as an occupying power.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of 2015 is an agreement between Iran and several world powers that was created to dismantle Iran's nuclear program and open its facilities for international inspection in exchange for sanctions relief. Despite the request of other world powers, Trump withdrew from the deal and reinstated sanctions during his presidency. This was due to the deal not accounting for Iran's possession of ballistic missiles, Iran still funding "radical terrorist groups", and other such reasons. As a result, Iran expanded their nuclear activities and has propagated a growing distrust towards the West since Trump's decision to reinstate sanctions. Currently, President Joe Biden has promised to renew the deal after negotiating with Iran.

The Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a deal reached between Iran and the permanent 5 members of the UN Security Council plus Germany in 2015 (under the Obama administration). Under this deal, Iran agreed to denuclearize, stopping further enrichment of uranium and destroying all uranium stockpiles it currently had, in exchange for the lifting of multilateral sanctions placed upon Iran by various nations that has severely hurt Iran's economy. Donald Trump however, unilaterally pulled out of the deal, reimposing a policy of maximum pressure and sanctions on Iran, to the condemnation of Iran and many other nations. Since the last election of President Biden, there has been pressure on the new administration to re-enter the Iran Deal (as is without changes) and hold up their end of the bargain

The US recently carried out an airstrike in Syria, in the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration. It targeted the facilities used by a number of Iran-backed militia groups, including Hezbollah, who are allied with the current Syrian government. The strike was ordered after a Filipino civilian contractor with the American led coalition was killed in a rocket attack in early February. A US service member and five other US contractors were also injured when the rockets hit sites including a base used by the US-led coalition.

In 2018, Joseph Kabila, generally seen as an authoritarian leader, agreed to step down as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hold a presidential election. In that election, most of the opposition coalesced around the candidacy of Martin Fayulu. When votes were announced, however, a surprise victory was awarded to Félix Tshisekedi, a less-popular opposition candidate. International and domestic observers generally concluded that Kabila, knowing a candidate from his own party would lack credibility, had brokered a deal with Tshisekedi and successfully rigged the election in his favor, and against Fayulu. For the first two years of his term as President, Tshisekedi governed in alliance with Kabila's legislative faction, while much of the international community continued to support Fayulu and declare the Tshisekedi government illegitimate. In late 2020, Tshisekedi announced he was dissolving his alliance with Kabila's party and attempting to form a new government comprised of various opposition groups.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which never entered into force due to the withdrawal of the United States

The 2021 Texas power crisis involved three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February, a massive electricity generation failure in the state of Texas, and resultant shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power some for several days. Texas Governor Greg Abbott's appointees to the Public Utility Commission of Texas ended a contract with the Texas Reliability Entity. Texas Reliability Entity is a council, a consortium of sorts, of private actors managing the electricity provision to the area of Texas during this crisis.

One Belt One Road (OBOR) is a Chinese state-backed project. OBOR involves building a network of roads, railways, maritime ports, power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and associated infrastructure. Over 100 countries have been involved with the project.

Tigray is Ethiopia's northernmost region. Bordering Eritrea, it is home to most of the country's estimated 7 million ethnic Tigrayans. In early November, the regional government — controlled by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a leftist political party — launched a full-scale siege of a key Ethiopian military base at Sero, using tanks, heavy guns and mortars. Calling the TPLF assault a "treason that will never be forgotten," Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a federal offensive against the region, setting off the conflict which has since displaced at least two million lives, and killed thousands - many of whom allegedly died as a result of indiscriminate shelling of cities in Tigray by Ethiopian forces. The conflict also threatens a regional humanitarian disaster.

A part of President's Macron foreign policy is active involvement in internal affairs of previous French protectorates and areas of influence such as Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. Publicly announced goals of this policy is to help foster political stability and cooperation inside the country.

A leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in August 2020. He became ill and was taken to Germany for medical treatment, but has since mostly recovered. There is strong evidence that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) was responsible for the poisoning. In January 2021 Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately arrested. He has been convicted of multiple crimes, including parole violations and slandering a veteran. In these internationally criticized trials he has been sentenced to numerous years in prison.

Vaccine nationalism is when governments sign agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers within their country to supply their own populations with vaccines ahead of them becoming available for other countries.

The 2004 enlargement was the largest expansion of the European Union in which the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined as member states.

The Houthi movement is a rebellion movement against the Yemen army and government. The rebellion has roots in corruption, religion and economic deprivation. The movement effectively controls the North of Yemen and is alleged to get support from Iran and potentially North Korea. The Yemen government is backed by Saudi-Arabia and the US. Trump placed the Houthi movement on the US terrorist list which made it illegal for organisations to deal with the Houthi movement.

Recently Israel has signed agreements with a few Arab countries (Bahrain, Sudan, UAE and Morocco). These agreements include normalisation of diplomatic relations, strenghtning trade relations and relaxing travel restrictions

The recent presidential election in Uganda has been marred with allegations of voter suppression and electoral fraud committed by the re-elected President Yoweri Musevini. Uganda (under Musevini) receives developmental aid from the US while Ugandan troops partner up with the US Armed Forces to fight terrorism in the region.

Alexei Navalny is a prominent Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption advocate. He was flown to Germany to recover from a near-fatal poisoning, accusing Vladimir Putin of being behind the attack. Returning to Russia in January, Navalny was detained. In February, he was then sentenced by a Moscow court to spend two years and eight months in jail for violating terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for fraud. There are mass protests within Russia in support of Alexei Navalny.

The goal of a truth and reconciliation commission is to hold public hearings to establish the scale and impact of a past injustice and make it part of the permanent, unassailable public record. They are temporary bodies that dissolve upon giving their final report which contains a series of recommendations. These reports officially recognise victims and perpetrators in an effort to move beyond the painful past. These commissions do not have the power to prosecute. They can make recommendations for punishment, but this is quite rare. Commissions usually do not even "name names"

India refuses to play against Pakistan in a bilateral series and usually makes an issue before playing against them before multilateral competitions as well- for political reasons.

'The evil west' is a term for the narrative claiming that Western Culture is inherently oppressive. According to this narrative, the West has a self-proclaimed sense of civilisational superiority attained through the glorification of its own scientific, cultural and religious achievements. In academia, the concept of 'the evil west' is used portray the West's racial and imperialistic practices as incomparably evil to the rest of the world, and uniquely responsibility for global inequalities

Archive of Our Own (AO3) is one of the biggest platforms for online fan fiction-writing and publishing with around 7 million published works. Chinese Internet censorship has a wide scope that affects the viewing materials of its netizens. Under this censorship the Republic of China can censor illegal contents such as: Pornographic content, content that promotes crimes and violence, and even certain controversial topics.

The East African Federation is a proposed political union that would make 6 African states — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda — into one sovereign, federated state using a single currency (the East African shilling). A draft constitution for confederation will be completed by 2021, and the confederacy will be implemented by 2023; a customs union and common market have already been established.

The Council of the European Union is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union. It is composed of representatives of each EU Member State (one from each country. Votes are usually carried by a majority - 55% of the countries representing 65% of the EU population must agree to the proposals. For some decisions, unanimity is required (generally decisions impacting the EU for a long time period e.g. decisions on the admission of a new state, the union's finances, common external or defence policy, and taxes). In this decisions, each country has a veto.

In late 2020, Ant Financial was scheduled to go public in an IPO (listing the company for the public trade of shares on stock exchanges) which valued the company at $313 billion. Jack Ma, the founder of Ant Financial, criticized the regulatory system of China and denounced Chinese banks as 'pawnshops' and implying irresponsibility; shortly afterwards, Xi Jinping decided to prevent Ant Financial from going public due to a failure to comply with these regulations.

Strong democracy is determined by;-Whether national elections are free and fair; -The security of voters;-The influence of foreign powers on government; -The capability of the civil servants to implement policies. Academic Boycott; Universities refusing to collaborate with scholars on research, publishers, journals, and other scholarly resources. Such as refusing to publish scholarship or experiments or refusing to provide access to scholars. Universities and other institutions refusing to accept students to their institution.

Gray-zone warfare is a tactic designed to degrade opposition's attrition by constantly forcing them to stay in a high state of alert (ex. scrambling fighter jets and having them fly just outside the border ex. sailing ships just outside naval territorial boundaries). As the name implies, the tactics are almost always 'technically' not illegal by international legal frameworks, though are discouraged. Recently, China has significantly increased the amount of gray-zone tactics it uses against Taiwan on a regular basis.

Chaebol are large conglomerates based in South Korea. A chaebol will consist of multiple smaller business units, each of which operates in different sectors and industries. Chaebol form a significant part of South Korea's economy. For example, Samsung's revenue accounts for 13% of South Korean GDP. Each chaebol is generally owned and controlled by a single family.

Alexei Navalny is a Russian opposition leader, politician, and anti-corruption activist. He was poisoned in August with a a Novichok nerve agent and flown to Germany to recuperate. He accuses Vladimir Putin of being behind the attack. Six days ago, he returned to Russia and was detained at the airport, and is at risk of prison sentences related to his stay in Germany and the activity of his anti-corruption organisation. There have been significant protests within Russia regarding Navalny's imprisonment.

WORLD A: Familial Care Labour (Household chores, planning, setting up of homes, etc.) is seen as a service job just like any other, hence the government pays for performer of these services in the household. (For this debate, we assume a fixed person or group of persons is responsible for this care labour, and it is assumed that is their only service job, and these individuals are not employed elsewhere.). WORLD B: Familiar Care Labour is seen as an act personal to families and outside the realm of service. In this case, all individuals of a household partake in care labour. Individuals hence are not paid for familial care labour, and everyone is assumed to have jobs externally.

During his presidency, Donald Trump has engaged in economic warfare (ex. tariffs, targeted sanctions etc.) against China in order to force China's compliance with the rules of the global neoliberal economic order (opening up its economy, protecting intellectual property, not engaging in currency manipulation).

The International Theology Programme is an initiative of Turkey's Presidency for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which aims to recruit young second- and third-generation turkish emigrants from the turkish diaspora. They are to study Islamic theology in Turkey and thereafter work as imams or religious officials for the Turkish state abroad in Europe.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The CPTPP aims to create a fully integrated economic area by eliminating/reducing tariffs, liberalizing trade, opening markets up to foreign investment, etc. It differs from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in that it has fewer member countries, but stricter conditions for joining (i.e. high liberalization requirements, strong intellectual property protections, high labor and environmental standards). The agreement was originally called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but was renamed the CPTPP after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal in 2016

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh from the collapse of the USSR. They were engaged in a six-year war over the region. The conflicted area was a part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenian Christians. Recently, armed violence between the two countries has escalated into full-blown conflict. Turkey has been actively involved since the escalation of the conflict in September. A peace agreement has been signed, with Azerbaijani control and significant numbers of Russian troops in the region

UN protectorates are international administrations established to govern countries or regions in crisis. Examples include the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). A failing state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly. Examples include, South Sudan, Somalia and Haiti.

On 14 December 2020, South Korea passed a bill which bans the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea, a practice that has long been denounced by North Korea. The law also restricts loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts. Lawbreakers could face up to three years in prison or 30 million won (≒$27,500) in fines.

In 1947, at the end of the British Empire in India, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into two countries: India and Pakistan - comprising of East Pakistan (which later became Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (currently Pakistan).

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there are some 3.5 million stateless persons globally with 70,000 new stateless children being born annually.

Movements to mainstream identity fluidity -such as gender fluidity, age fluidity, racial fluidity et. al.- have met with varying degrees of success across the world.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of 6 principal organs of the United Nations responsible for decisions like ensuring international peace and security, recommending that the UN General Assembly (UNGA) accept new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to the UN charter.

A "Brave New World" has these characteristics: 1. People are genetically engineered and socially conditioned by the state for specific societal roles.; 2. People's material and physical needs are unfailingly met.; 3. There is no possibility of changing the social order.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. At its formation, ASEAN adopted principles that have come to be known as "the ASEAN Way." These principles place strong emphasis on national sovereignty, and a commitment to non-intervention in the affairs of member states. All ASEAN decisions are made unanimously.

A universal basic income (UBI) is a form of social security in which all citizens of a country receive an unconditional monthly sum of money from the government.

A flag carrier airline is a prominent airline that has a preferential position in its home country. Generally, there is no more than one flag carrier airline per country. They are often subsidized by the government and have government-given preferential rights or privileges for international operations. Examples of flag carrier airlines include Air France, Aeroflot, and Air India.

In the last 3-4 weeks, US Federal Government and many state governments have relaxed the lockdown measures. Non-essential businesses like restaurants and salons have also been allowed to open up within these areas; with focus on social distancing measures like maintaining a distance of 6 feet and wearing PPEs. Currently, only 22 states (New York, California, etc) are in a lockdown along with some cities with high number of COVID-19 cases (Hillsborough County in Florida, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania etc).

When a country borrows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its government agrees to adjust its economic policies to overcome problems that led it to seek financial assistance. These conditions may include implementing austerity measures, raising taxes, opening of markets, and the the removal of certain subsidies. These policy changes are conditions for availing IMF loans.

On February 29, 2020, the American government signed a conditional peace deal with the Taliban. The deal obliges 1) The United States to have a phased withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 2021 2) Prisoner swaps to take place with 5000 Taliban prisoners being released in exchange for 1000 government soldiers 3) The Taliban to sever ties with Al Qaeda and all other international terror groups, and sit down in peace negotiations with other Afghans. The Afghan government was not a party to the negotiations, although it was kept in the loop. On May 13, 2020, following a spike in violence, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered the Afghan military to resume offensive against the Taliban.

The China-ASEAN South China Sea Code of Conduct negotiations seek to manage inter-state relations within the South China Sea area and address disputes over territorial claims in the contested waters. The COC is based on a 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and the 10 ASEAN States. Both ASEAN and China have agreed to complete the COC by 2022.

In an Randomized Control Trial (RCT), participants - individuals or communities - are randomly split into a treatment group (who receive the intervention) and a control group (who do not). Afterwards, the two groups are compared. RCTs are being used increasingly frequently to test the efficacy of aid and NGO interventions.

The Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war of 2020 is an economic war triggered in March 2020 by Saudi Arabia in response to Russia's refusal over proposed oil-production cuts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This economic conflict resulted in a sheer drop of oil price over the spring of 2020. Russia walked out of the agreement, leading to the fall of the OPEC+ alliance and rapid increase in oil production in OPEC countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is also considered the de facto leader of OPEC and the organization tends to follow their lead. Russia have since then agreed to a production cut which extension can only be bilaterally negotiated.

The presidential election in Russia will be held next time in 2024. According to the current constitution, a person can serve a maximum of 2 consecutive terms as a president, and therefore Vladimir Putin cannot run for the presidency again without a change to the constitution. It could be possible for Putin to remain in power without running for the presidency by formally occupying some other political position.

In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' that can do the things an everyday person can usually do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on

The United Nations Security Council is the international body tasked with peace preservation. It has 5 permanent members with veto voting powers: USA, UK, France, Russia, and China

During the era of cold war, US did a huge amount of election interference in may countries. The CIA recently publish a report explaining how ever ssince the cold war, the US (through the CIA) only did one election interference, that is in Serbia, to take down the dictator Slobodan Milosevic. However, election interference was considered in Iraq to take down Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, though CIA eventually decided against it.

The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is the stated aim of the present relations between the two entities. According to the European Commission, "considerable efforts" are still needed in order for BiH to meet EU's ascession criteria, which include the applicant country having stable institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities, and a functioning market economy.

Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive membership of specific people in a religious community. It is a reversible act. Rodrigo Duterte is the President of the Philippines, a country with over 80 million Roman Catholics (over 86% of the population). He has been responsible for 1000's of deaths through extra-judicial killings in his brutal drug war. He has also recently signed into law an "anti-terror" bill that gives the government free reign to label individuals as terrorists and grants greater power to detain and hold them.

. Oil-rich Libya has been in chaos since the Arab spring movement and NATO bombing campaign that toppled Gaddafi in 2011. Attempts to build a democratic state after Gaddafi fell, disintegrated into a new civil war between rival governments in 2014. Since 2014 the fighting has mainly been between rival centres of political power in east and west Libya after election disputes: namely the UN-recognised Tripoli administration, known as the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Sarraj, and the Tobruk administration in the eastern city, which chose General Haftar to lead the Libyan National Army (LNA). While the GNA is officially recognised by the UN as Libya's legitimate government, it holds little power on the ground, and some distrust its Islamist politics. Haftar's supporters say he is a bulwark against extremism, while others see him as another would-be military dictator. 2. Over the last few years foreign powers have increasingly intervened in Libya's civil war to defend their own strategic and economic interests. The democratically chosen GNA is backed by the UN and many western countries, but its main allies are Turkey, Qatar and Italy. The LNA enjoys the support of Russia, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France and Jordan. The recent escalation in fighting comes despite increased international pressure on both sides to return to negotiating a political settlement and to halt the violence over concerns about the spread of coronavirus. The recent loss of al-Watiya airbase dealt a significantly heavy setback for Haftar and will help Turkey expand its air operations in the conflict on behalf of the Tripoli government. The LNA's foreign backers are likely to step up their support in order to counter a string of Turkish successes since Ankara intervened in January

Before this agreement, Chinese Catholics were split between a faction that registered with the State-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA), and an underground Catholic community that swore loyalty only to the Pope. The CPA had appointed Chinese bishops in the past, who were excommunicated by the Vatican church. The new deal makes the Vatican recognize China's system of nominating its own bishops, but gives the Pope veto powers over new nominations.

The ministry of magic is the government of the wizarding world. For centuries, wizards have kept in hiding, keeping the rest of the non-wizard humans (muggles) unaware of the existence of magic.

Wakanda is a technologically developed nation that has been hidden from the world throughout its history, sticking to isolationism. It is the only nation to possess vibranium, a metal noted for its extraordinary abilities to absorb, store, and release large amounts of kinetic energy. In the world surrounding it there are many weaker nations, with some having oppressive regimes. The general rule for spec-knowledge stands - if something is not in the info-slide you can't assert it to be true, the movie isn't an info-slide.

The Trump-Taliban peace deal is an agreement made by the United States (US) and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The US and allies (like NATO) promise to withdraw their forces from the region by 2021 and remove sanctions against the Taliban if they fulfil their end of the deal, which includes: conducting prisoner swap between Taliban prisoners and the Afghan security forces' prisoners; and agreeing to not allow parties that pose a threat to US & allies' security (e.g. al-Qaeda or any other extremist groups) to operate in areas under Taliban control.

Blue and White is a centre to centre-left political alliance in Israel, led by Benny Gantz. Following Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) elections held in March 2020, Blue and White entered into a coalition agreement with Likud, the party of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resulting in the formation of a unity government. Among the terms of the agreement are the stipulation that Netanyahu will serve as Prime Minister of Israel until October 2021, at which point Gantz will assume the position. The March 2020 elections were the third in a series of Knesset elections which began in April 2019. Following the first two elections, neither of the two major parties (i.e. Blue and White and Likud) were able to form government, leading to the dissolution of the Knesset and the calling of snap elections. Following the signing of the coalition agreement, two of the parties which made up Blue and White left the alliance, leaving the Israel Resilience Party as the only remaining party. As a result, Blue and White now only controls 14 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset, compared to the 33 seats which it won in the March 2020 elections.

Laïcité (pronounced la-ee-si-teh) is a foundational constitutional principle of the modern French Republic which stipulates that religion should not influence political affairs and vice versa. It is reflected in a wide range of both policies and social norms, including a ban on wearing conspicuous religious symbols in public schools; a ban on the provision of government financial support to religious organisations; and a norm that political leaders should refrain from making openly religious remarks.

Pacific island states (e.g. Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands) are highly foreign aid-dependent. In recent times, China has significantly increased its foreign aid contributions to Pacific island states in exchange for their support for Chinese interests (e.g. signing onto Belt and Road projects, supporting China in the UN etc). However, there have been numerous concerns raised by Australia, the US and the EU (among others) about this diplomatic shift toward China, as well as regarding the amount of debt that Pacific island states are taking on when signing onto Belt and Road projects.

After the passing of Hong Kong's national security law, various foreign governments have announced separate immigration programs for Hong Kong citizens to resettle overseas. This ranges from fast-tracking residency (Taiwan and Australia) to path to citizenship (UK for all Hong Kong citizens holding the British National Overseas passports). This is in addition to existing, non-country-specifc asylum and refugee schemes.

A truth and reconciliation commission is a commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state actors also), in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement in the Indo-Pacific region between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and five of ASEAN's FTA partners—Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. India, which is also ASEAN's FTA partner, opted out of RCEP in November 2019.

A prisoner of conscience refers to anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views, and/or those imprisoned for the non-violent expression of their conscientiously held beliefs.

Evo Morales was elected President of Bolivia in 2006. During his presidency, he undertook a number of economic and social reforms, including massively increasing royalties from oil and gas companies to begin repairing the economy, and investing significantly in social reforms such as education and welfare. He also introduced term limits for the presidency. Morales ran for president in 2019. This move was challenged in the supreme court as a breach of the term limits he had introduced, but ultimately he was permitted to run. The election was marred with irregularities, which led to widescale public protests. Morales (and other high ranking officials from his party (MAS)) eventually resigned under the pressure from the protests. In December, the President of the Senate, Jeanine Áñez, was made interim President. She is a member of the conservative Christian party, MDS.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea wields enormous power in South Korea including powers normally given to police forces. Reforms are likely to greatly weaken the scope and authority of this body.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is an Indian political party, and is currently the ruling party of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Legislative State Assembly. They have only 1 seat in the Lok Sabha and 3 seats in the Rajya Sabha (the upper and lower house of the national congress) but are rising in popularity to varying degrees across India. The AAP wants to reverse the way that the accountability of government operates and has taken an interpretation of the Gandhian concept of swaraj as a tenet. The swaraj model lays stress on self-governance, community building and decentralization of power from the centre (federal government). The Indian National Congress is a centre-left political party who have historical roots in the formation of the Indian state. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement and have historically done well in elections and have been in government. Under the Gandhi family dynasty (not the same as Mahathma Gandhi), the party has been embroiled in corruption scandals, bank scams and high amounts of nepotism. As a result the INC has been losing seats over time but still currently have 52 seats in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha.