Protestations and Revolutions

The fate of the Turkish republic hung in the balance as it held general elections on on May 14th. This general race determined not only the composition of the parliament but also the position of the presidency, which has been by direct popular vote since the 2007 constitutional referendum. The incumbent president, who has been a predominant figure in Turkish politics since 2003, is Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He runs the religious conservative Justice and Development party. History was made in the election as this was the first time ever that Erdogan failed to decisively win the first-round election for the presidency.

In just over one week, Ukrainian air defense systems accomplished what many thought was impossible. Twice. On Thursday, May 4th, and Monday, May 15th, recently delivered U.S. Patriot air defense batteries reportedly intercepted multiple hypersonic missiles over the skies of Kyiv. The initial intercept of one Kinzhal missile set off a buzz of excitement and controversy. However, when the second wave of six Kinzhals was downed before reaching their targets, it seemed that the record was written in stone. How is it that Cold War-era technology had bested a weapon that only entered service 6 years ago during a wave of modernization in the Russian military? Especially one that was touted by the Kremlin as an unstoppable weapon, capable of outpacing and outmaneuvering any existing air defense systems. Does this mean that the fear and excitement surrounding hypersonic weapons is misplaced?

In an age defined by technological breakthroughs, few innovations have captured our collective imagination as profoundly as Artificial Intelligence (AI). This transformative technology, once relegated to the realm of science fiction, has now permeated every aspect of our lives, thus reshaping industries, challenging societal norms, and heralding a new era of human-machine collaboration. If there is any hope of successfully harnessing the power of AI, society must collectively work to understand its multifaceted impact. In order to illuminate the perils and prospects of AI, one must explore its influence on the job market, the evolving role of humans, and the remarkable strides made in recent years, while also unearthing emerging challenges that lie ahead.

In recent weeks, many of us have undoubtedly heard about the thousands of Israelis protesting the judicial reforms of Israel’s new coalition government. Crowds protesting against the proposed changes to Israel's judicial system have exceeded the hundreds of thousands. The protests were spurred on by dire warnings from Israel's leading left wing politicians. Lapid warned the government that history would judge them and implored the coalition to “stop this insane legislation”. Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz warned in January that the government’s plans for judicial reform risked being responsible for civil war in Israeli society. He also urged the Israeli public “to demonstrate” against “the demolition of democracy”. The crisis escalated further, when reports surfaced in the media that many IDF reservists, including IAF pilots, refused to report for training and some even refused to report for service and the reserves. There were also a number of corporations that announced plans to leave Israel because of the judicial reform bill.