Emerging Voices

Foreign policy perspectives from the next generation.

Emerging Voices is a foreign policy blog written by YPFP New York members. It provides an opportunity for members to contribute analysis and help shape the organization’s outlook. We welcome submissions from YPFP NY members and invite you to pitch an article. For submission guidelines click here.

The UN from Inside: Perspectives from a U.S. Public Delegate to the United Nations

Emerging Voices Staff Writer Dan Kent had the chance to sit down with S. Douglas Bunch, a Public Delegate at the United States Mission to the United Nations. Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us! First, can you give me an overview of…
Read More

The Changing Soft Power Landscape of International Higher Education

By Dan Kent With the release of an updated strategy on international education and engagement by the US Department of Education, the US government has acknowledged the importance of education as a vehicle for advancing its international interests. Specifically, the US higher education sector has long been widely acknowledged as a source of soft power…
Read More

South Korea’s Soft Power Playbook

By Lauren McCranie In 1990, Joseph Nye sought to think more holistically about global power dynamics and introduced the concept of soft power: the ability of a country to persuade foreign publics to agree with its policies and stances without explicit force (as opposed to hard power levers like military force). A country’s soft power…
Read More

Displaced and Vulnerable: LGBTQ People in Conflict Zones

By Dan Kent With one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since World War II continuing to unfold in Ukraine, it is worth examining the various ramifications that such an outflow of people involves, including in other conflict zones. Although much has been discussed regarding the unimaginable human toll in death and suffering across…
Read More

The Global Nature of Border Disputes: The Transformative Effect of Oil

By Dan Kent Many of Latin America’s border disputes are rooted in its colonial history. The dispute between Venezuela and Guyana is no different, having wide-ranging implications for the future of both nations. As energy markets continue to roil the globe with an array of supply-chain and demand shocks produced by various conflicts and the…
Read More

The Global Nature of Border Disputes: Tangled Borders and Uncertain Futures in Central Asia

By Dan Kent When looking at a map of Central Asia, one attribute immediately stands out: it is a tangled assortment of enclaves, exclaves, and jagged borders. Central Asia, a region of 76 million people living across five nations, can trace these convoluted borders to their long history as Soviet states. During that era, borders were inconsequential, and…
Read More