Foreign policy is a collection of goals, strategies, and actions that a government uses to guide its relationships with other countries and international organizations. Such goals include national security, economic prosperity, global stability, and values promotion. China’s foreign policy seeks to advance all of these goals using the tools of diplomacy, economic measures, military power and soft power (sharing a nation’s culture, values, and media to build good will and influence opinions).

A private American mercenary company is now running a large share of Haiti’s fight against its own gangs, operating drone strikes, raids, and intelligence gathering under a contract the government has never made public.

The US war on Iran has now passed the six-month mark, negotiations have been abandoned and last week saw renewed fighting with Tehran attacking American bases across the Middle East. This came after a US strike was alleged to have hit a home hosting a wedding event, killing five people and wounding dozens. Washington  also launched a new aggressive economic pressure campaign and blockade to coerce Iran into submission. Tehran on its part is now threatening military escalation and a wider war.  The head of Iran’s National Security Council said recently that Tehran is planning to announce a maritime “exclusion zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz where it intends to stop vessels attempting to transit the waterway without Iranian permission.  The conflict currently appears to have no likely end  in sight.

The ongoing war in Ukraine seems to have slipped into the back of collective consciousness. If the war enters the news cycle it’s usually new footage of the sides trading missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure, weapon factories, or apartment buildings.

As Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian people draw international condemnation, its support among US voters is shrinking, and with it the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the wealthy and powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization.  AIPAC’s backing, once crucial to candidates, is no longer a sure path to election and in some progressive districts is becoming a liability.

Industrial agriculture remains a primary driver of ecological degradation and greenhouse gas emissions, pushing communities toward the brink of climate collapse. In response, regenerative agriculture has emerged as a proposed pathway for climate adaptation. Historically rooted in Indigenous land stewardship, genuine regenerative practices prioritize holistic soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem restoration over maximum yield. These methods aim to adapt to changing climate realities by building resilient landscapes capable of withstanding extreme weather events while sequestering carbon.

Money in politics is as American as apple pie and tossing the pigskin, but its sheer size and impact would boggle an onlooker’s mind. When you show the size of total spending on advertisements in 2024, it looks almost comical: $11,200,000,000.

South Dakota, or the Mount Rushmore State, is deeply Republican, but the national environment has opened the door for Democrats to make inroads across the country, even with South Dakotans. While a Democrat has not won a federal statewide race in the state since 2008, Trump’s declining approval, the prolonged war with Iran, & persistent inflation have created a more difficult environment for Republicans nationally. Recent polling shows Trump’s approval at a second-term low while support for the war in Iran has also fallen, including among Republicans.