Publications

Author: Vivian Sun November 6, 2025 Background Boys Love (BL) originated from Japanese girls’ manga in the 1970s. It emphasizes the romance and sex between males. In contrast to “homosexual literature,” BL is not made for gay men, but rather as a form of media destined for women who use male characters to project their feelings and desires. It expands the romantic discourse pattern of traditional female manga, but transforms the female-male relationship into a male-male one.

Author: Michael Masrie November 5, 2025 Paul Biya [Image credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images] Introduction When Paul Biya ruled Cameroon as Prime Minister in 1975 and ascended to the presidency in 1982, the world was entrenched in Cold War tensions, the Berlin Wall divided East from West, and microcomputers were nascent. Today—50 years later—Biya leads among Africa’s longest-serving heads of state, followed by Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (45 years), Iran’s

Author: Mathilde Guenin, MA November 4, 2025 View the interactive visual report here  on Tableau. Each year, Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) Press Freedom Index ranks 180 countries and assigns them a score based on the level of freedom available to journalists and media to report. The index, which uses a scale from 0 to 100 to analyze countries’ relative press freedom, categorizes countries that rank between 0–40 indicates as in a very serious situation; 40–55 as difficult;

Author: Damilola Bello October 30, 2025 [Image credit: Photo-Love / ECFR] Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine how digital repression by selected African democracies across East, West, North, and South Africa violates the human rights of the African populace. The study uses ideology and ideological state apparatuses as its framework. The scope has been narrowed down to how digital repression in Africa is often weaponized for unlawful control. In Africa, digita

Author: Bellinda Chinowawa October 29, 2025 Princess Silibaziso Mlotshwa was formally installed as Chief Mvuthu on August 15, 2025. Introduction On August 15, Princess Silibaziso Mlotshwa was installed as the substantive Chief Mvuthu in Hwange District, the first woman to hold that office in Matabeleland North and one of only a handful nationwide. This is a landmark development that provides an opportunity to critique the relationship between colonialism and the evolution of

Author: Ivan Francis, MS   October 28, 2025 View the interactive visual report here on Tableau. What is an Internet Shutdown? An internet shutdown is a deliberate interruption of internet-based communications that prevents a certain demographic, geographic area, or access type from using them. Blocking access to the global internet is frequently an attempt by the state to regulate the flow of information inside a territory. Internet shutdowns are not the same as content rest

Author: Ronald Nsubuga, MS October 23, 2025 Somali women and children stand outside temporary tents in the Dagahaley refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border. [Image credit: UNICEF/Kate Holt] Introduction The East and Horn of Africa region has for decades hosted millions of refugees. As of December 2024, the region was sheltering over 5 million people fleeing all sorts of instabilities, such as conflicts, catastrophic climate emergencies, and political chaos from countries

Author: Olivia Weninger October 22, 2025 Interstate highways in Oakland, California. [Image source: Jason Doiy] ‘The interstate highway system stands as a material manifestation, a physical realization of our racialized norms and values.’ – Deborah Archer Even in the age of “race-blindness”—the tendency to ignore race in social or legal assessments—environmental racism persists. Its roots trace back to the very creation of our cities and highways, where neighborhoods were oft

Author: Irem Cakmak, LLM October 21, 2025 [Image source: Markus Spiske ] Introduction Small Island Developing States ( SIDS ) are a group of low-lying island nations with distinct vulnerabilities that make them particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change, despite their minimal contribution  to global emissions. These countries include Pacific islands such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Maldives, as well as many island nations in the Caribbean. The effects of climate

Author: Madi Carpenter October 17, 2025 Asylum seekers board a train en route to Serbia from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. (Photo: Mirjana Nedeva/UN Women Europe and Central Asia. [Image Source: Article: Outsourcing Migration Management: The Rol.. | migrationpolicy.org ] The journeys of forced migrants are plagued by various challenges. The routes are often perilous, unpredictable, and underdeveloped. Many turn instead to informal routes for seeking refuge becaus