Opinions

Zero-Gravity: How Modern Politics Departs from the Traditional Left-Right Spectrum

Zero-Gravity: How Modern Politics Departs from the Traditional Left-Right Spectrum

These days, it’s easy to feel lost in the unpredictability of global politics. Moreover, modern politics in Western democracies seem to no longer adhere to textbook ideas of political organisation. What’s behind political ideologies in recent years? What fuels the increasing divide between Left and Right? The IAS Gazette investigates how governments can address extreme polarisation and find their political centre of gravity once again.

We Need More Surveillance

We Need More Surveillance

What good may more surveillance do? Is data useful? The lack of privacy and build-up of the planetary epidermis could be a worthwhile trade-off to stave off an existential threat—the climate crisis.

A Kiasu State of Affairs

A Kiasu State of Affairs

By comparing things that happen in daily life to occurrences of statecraft between international states, can we draw parallels between two seemingly detached realities? How differently then, would we approach these traditionally important parts of our lives if we simply just view it through a different lens? Parallels can be drawn between norms and behaviours from seemingly incompatible facets of life. Perhaps, once these lines are drawn, we can shake off the invisible shackles.

Is Going Paperless Just Another Greenwashing Tactic?

Is Going Paperless Just Another Greenwashing Tactic?

Going paperless to save the environment? This article examines the idea of paper and the digital economy. While accepting that there is tremendous growth in digitalisation, there is also the danger of assuming our internet habits are clean when they are not. It also gives a brief overview of reducing our carbon footprints and other telecommunications that contribute to carbon dioxide. The conclusion is that corporations continue to play their denial game, however, the author believes that there is still hope in preserving our natural environment.

The Pandora Papers: the Revelations Everyone Saw Coming

The Pandora Papers: the Revelations Everyone Saw Coming

It comes as no surprise that the rich and powerful operate on a completely different plane to the ordinary man. The Pandora Papers scratched the surface of the parallel shadow economy, leaving the world conflicted on the next step to take from these revelations. Claire from the IAS Gazette navigates through the workings of offshore banking and the shadow economy, and discusses what the Pandora Papers’ revelations mean for the everyday man.

The Violence of Legibility

The Violence of Legibility

Morphing into and from different forms, legibility is a force of nature that has flown under the radar for most of human history. What is legibility? Has its consequences brought out more bad than good? From the Enlightenment to High Modernism to Dataism, I explore the harm that this decoding and recoding force inflicts on the human condition.

Political Apathy Amidst the Mechanisms of Youth Diplomacy

Political Apathy Amidst the Mechanisms of Youth Diplomacy

Some tend to shy away when it comes to politics, but what is politics? Why is political apathy so concerning and how big of an impact can be created when youths are politically interested anyway? Sherry from the IAS Gazette explores political apathy and its consequences, especially with the prevalence of youth diplomacy in the global landscape.

“Sustainability” is Not Sustainable: Reimagining Fashion for True Sustainability

“Sustainability” is Not Sustainable: Reimagining Fashion for True Sustainability

Sustainability and ethics when it comes to the fashion industry has taken the form of movements and advocacy. Certain practices like recycling and upcycling have been advocated in the name of sustainability, but are these methods truly sustainable? Is the quest for a sustainable fashion industry a lost cause? This piece explores the complexity of sustainability in today’s context and the need for fashion to be redefined and reimagined in order to encapsulate this.

About Us

The IAS Gazette is a news site run by undergraduates from the Singapore Institute of Management’s International Affairs Society (IAS). Founded in 2018, it traces its roots to The Capital, a now defunct bimonthly magazine previously under the IAS.

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