Global Headlines Research Articles

Beyond territorial defense…? The U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK alliances and a ‘Taiwan Strait contingency’

Amid United States-led efforts to internationalize and multilateralize support for Taiwan and cross-Strait deterrence in response to mounting coercive pressure from China, the April 2021 and May 2021 U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea summit statements’ unprecedented references to ‘peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait’ triggered global headlines. In the 3 years since, U.S. expectations for treaty allies to do and say more in support of Taiwan and cross-Strait deterrence have surged. But what of the perspectives and policies of key front-line treaty allies Japan and Korea, each host to tens of thousands of forward-­deployed U.S. forces? This study comparatively analyzes the historical and contemporary evolution of Japanese and Korean positions and policies vis-à-vis Taiwan and the role their leaders see for their country and respective alliance with the U.S. in the event of a ‘regional contingency’: a conflict not involving—at least initially—armed attacks on ally-administered territory. After highlighting the similarities between Seoul’s and Tokyo’s intentionally ambiguous positions on Taiwan’s status, it explores important differences in each allies’ willingness to deepen practical engagement with Taiwan, to expand their respective alliance’s focus beyond territorial defense, and to stretch the bounds of the ally’s own potential contributions in a regional contingency.

Compositional features analysis by machine learning in genome represents linear adaptation of monkeypox virus.

Introduction: The global headlines have been dominated by the sudden and widespread outbreak of monkeypox, a rare and endemic zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV). Genomic composition based machine learning (ML) methods have recently shown promise in identifying host adaptability and evolutionary patterns of virus. Our study aimed to analyze the genomic characteristics and evolutionary patterns of MPXV using ML methods. Methods: The open reading frame (ORF) regions of full-length MPXV genomes were filtered and 165 ORFs were selected as clusters with the highest homology. Unsupervised machine learning methods of t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and hierarchical clustering were performed to observe the DCR characteristics of the selected ORF clusters. Results: The results showed that MPXV sequences post-2022 showed an obvious linear adaptive evolution, indicating that it has become more adapted to the human host after accumulating mutations. For further accurate analysis, the ORF regions with larger variations were filtered out based on the ranking of homology difference to narrow down the key ORF clusters, which drew the same conclusion of linear adaptability. Then key differential protein structures were predicted by AlphaFold 2, which meant that difference in main domains might be one of the internal reasons for linear adaptive evolution. Discussion: Understanding the process of linear adaptation is critical in the constant evolutionary struggle between viruses and their hosts, playing a significant role in crafting effective measures to tackle viral diseases. Therefore, the present study provides valuable insights into the evolutionary patterns of the MPXV in 2022 from the perspective of genomic composition characteristics analysis through ML methods.

Carina Karlsson's Märket as “Glocal” Literature

Abstract “Glocal” is a term that refers to that which is both “global” and “local.” Åland is an island in the Baltic whose residents are deeply attached to a sense of place and that which is local. At the same time, due to a strong shipping industry, many of these residents have traveled widely. The people of Åland are both citizens of a region with a strong sense of local identity and citizens of the world, hence, “glocal.” Carina Karlsson's Märket (The mark; 2019) is a historical novel that tells of what happened to seven women who were executed for witchcraft on Åland in the seventeenth century. Witch trials, however, were not exclusive to Åland, and Karlsson finds that this local piece of history resonates with what happened across Europe. Moreover, the persecution of unusual or powerful women is something that can be seen in global headlines even today. Märket is a novel that describes a local history specific to Åland, and yet the tale extends well beyond the borders of Åland, depicting common human experience.

The social consequences of inflation in developing countries

AbstractThe title of this article is a riff off a publication of G. C. Harcourt’s 1974 piece, ‘The social consequences of inflation’. He wrote this in a period of the global economy that bears some strong similarities to our own contemporary phase when inflation is suddenly back in the global headlines. There is at least one significant difference: at that time, Harcourt highlighted inflation as the outcome of an excess of total demand in real terms over available supplies of goods and services when the potential workforces and existing stocks of capital goods were fully employed. Current inflationary pressures, by contrast, arise from the combination of specific sectoral supply bottlenecks, rising profit margins in oligopolistic global markets for food and fuel and financial speculation in these markets.

Molecular detection of monkeypox and related viruses: challenges and opportunities.

The recent widespread emergence of monkeypox (mpox), a rare and endemic zoonotic disease by monkeypox virus (MPXV), has made global headlines. While transmissibility (R0 ≈ 0.58) and fatality rate (0-3%) are low, as it causes prolonged morbidity, the World Health Organization has declared monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern. Thus, effective containment and disease management require quick and efficient detection of MPXV. In this bioinformatic overview, we summarize the numerous molecular tests available for MPXV, and discuss the diversity of genes and primers used in the polymerase chain reaction-based detection. Over 90 primer/probe sets are used for the detection of poxviruses. While hemagglutinin and A-type inclusion protein are the most common target genes, tumor necrosis factor receptor and complement binding protein genes are frequently used for distinguishing Clade I and Clade II of MPXV. Problems and possibilities in the detection of MPXV have been discussed.

Smart food: novel foods, food security, and the Smart Nation in Singapore

ABSTRACT In December 2020, Singapore made global headlines by being the first country to approve the commercial sale of lab grown meat. This approval was part of an effort by the city state to intensify the development of novel foods on the island. This paper describes this recent growth of novel food companies in Singapore. Singapore’s novel food policies ostensibly aim to create food security for its citizens. We argue that the embrace of the technology that surrounds novel foods also aligns with Singapore’s vision of building a “smart nation.” Although food is not a digital technology, the approaches to novel foods being taken in Singapore share many parallels with the rollout of digital technology. These parallels can be seen in the domains of standardization, regulation, intellectual property, data-gathering, and training. We anticipate that these shifts in procurement, regulation, consumption of foods, may ultimately challenge traditional food pathways and Singapore’s food identity.

China's wandering elephants: Integrating exceptional movements into conservation planning

AbstractIn May‐June 2021 a herd of wild Asian elephants made global headlines when they trekked hundreds of km into areas where elephants had been absent for centuries, mobilizing a response of unprecedented scale. Here, we analyze the movement attributes and body condition of these elephants to understand this unusual behavior and its implications for megafauna conservation in the Anthropocene. We propose that these movements are a form of partial and irruptive nomadic behavior, although the data is also compatible with a failed attempt of dispersal. In their path to Kunming, the elephants made unusual habitat choices, using landscapes with higher nightlight intensity, and moving close to towns and villages, while avoiding areas with high forest cover, which we interpret as habituation to feeding on crops and lack of fear of people. Fifteen months after starting their journey, the elephants showed high body condition scores and had successfully delivered two babies, both indicators of good health, suggesting that their decision to leave their previous home range had paid off. In China, we recommend an elephant conservation strategy founded on area‐based and area‐specific measures, including protected areas, landscape connectivity, and the mitigation of human‐elephant conflicts, as well as preparedness for expectable population range expansions, potentially on the scale of hundreds of km, in the coming decades. Our study highlights the ecological and behavioral plasticity of elephants and the importance of integrating movement ecology in conservation planning, especially for wide‐ranging species.

Reassessing Seoul’s “One China” Policy: South Korea-Taiwan “Unofficial” Relations after 30 Years (1992-2022)

ABSTRACT Amid U.S.-led efforts to “internationalize and multilateralize” support for Taiwan in response to mounting pressure from China, the 2021 U.S.-South Korea presidential statement’s unprecedented reference to “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” made global headlines. This study analyzes contemporary Korea-Taiwan relations in historic and comparative perspective, focusing especially on Seoul’s official 1992 position on “One China” and its implications for Korea’s Taiwan policy. It demonstrates that Seoul has never recognized Beijing’s self-defined “One China principle” concerning its essential claim of PRC sovereignty over Taiwan. Comparative analysis of Korea’s position and subsequent policies with the U.S.’, Japan’s, and others’ further reveals significant (potential) flexibility in Korea’s approach to Taiwan. The relatively distant state of Korea-Taiwan relations today is the collective political choice of Korea’s democratically-elected leaders—not the legacy of some (non-existent) putative commitment made to Beijing 30 years ago.

Then, Now, Forever: Television Wrestling, Seriality, and the Rise of the Cinematic Match during COVID-19

In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Florida classified professional wrestling (pro wrestling) alongside hospitals, law enforcement, and grocery stores as an essential service. The state’s decision made global headlines and was generally met with a mix of confusion and surprise. This article investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contemporary television wrestling. After tracing the influence that the television medium and media convergence have had on pro wrestling, the article argues that the pandemic circumstances, coupled with the demands of television wrestling’s serialized storytelling, led to an evolution of a specific wrestling-match type: the cinematic match. Through a close textual analysis of wrestling programs that were produced without a live crowd during the COVID-19 crisis (e.g., WWE Friday Night Smackdown, Wrestlemania 36), this article examines how television wrestling—in an effort to appeal to its audience—produced a number of cinematic matches that combine distinct elements (e.g., editing, cinematography, sound) of genre filmmaking (e.g., horror, action) with the spectacular athleticism of pro wrestling.

The U.S.-Japan Alliance and Taiwan

executive summary: This article analyzes the historical evolution of Japan's positions, posture, and policies relevant to a possible conflict across the Taiwan Strait, including the potential roles of the U.S.-Japan security alliance and Japan's Self-Defense Forces. main argument In April 2021, Japan's then prime minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. president Joe Biden made global headlines when they jointly "underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues"—the first such reference in a summit-level statement since 1969. This statement catalyzed a striking degree of public discussion in Japan and expressions of concern about cross-strait stability from Japanese leaders. It also elicited widespread, though often misleading or inaccurate, assertions overseas that Japan's position vis-à-vis a "Taiwan contingency" had abruptly or radically transformed. Especially given the proximity of Japan (and U.S. military bases in Japan) to Taiwan, soberly appreciating the complexity and incremental evolution of Japan's nuanced and intentionally ambiguous positions and policies, as well as its unique domestic constraints, is critical. Doing so is especially crucial for policymakers to accurately assess the status quo, manage expectations within and beyond the alliance, and ensure sound decision-making as the cross-strait deterrence challenge seems all but certain to deepen in the years ahead. policy implications •Japan's decades-old, intentionally ambiguous official posture toward a possible Taiwan Strait contingency has not radically changed. Any action Japan would take in a possible crisis will depend on top-level political judgments about the particular contingency's nature, how it began, how Taipei and Washington have responded, and the perceived threat to Japan itself. • Ambiguity—by design—should not be misunderstood as apathy or ambivalence in Tokyo about democratic Taiwan's future or cross-strait peace and stability. Recent developments suggest a new sense of urgency and openness to deepen contingency and bilateral planning with Washington to enhance deterrence and to prepare options if deterrence fails. Though not originally motivated by a possible Taiwan contingency, Japan's national security and alliance reforms over the past decade have expanded the options for allied cooperation and Japan's potential role(s) in the event one occurs. • Important constraints on Japan are still apparent. It remains an open question how—and how quickly—Japan's leaders could respond to use of force by China against Taiwan and what consequences any indecision could have on Japan's and the alliance's response or how a conflict plays out.

The return of the elephants: How two groups of dispersing elephants attracted the attention of billions and what can we learn from their behavior

The return of the elephants: How two groups of dispersing elephants attracted the attention of billions and what can we learn from their behavior

Political Islam: A 40 Year Retrospective

The year 2020 roughly corresponds with the 40th anniversary of the rise of political Islam on the world stage. This topic has generated controversy about its impact on Muslims societies and international affairs more broadly, including how governments should respond to this socio-political phenomenon. This article has modest aims. It seeks to reflect on the broad theme of political Islam four decades after it first captured global headlines by critically examining two separate but interrelated controversies. The first theme is political Islam’s acquisition of state power. Specifically, how have the various experiments of Islamism in power effected the popularity, prestige, and future trajectory of political Islam? Secondly, the theme of political Islam and violence is examined. In this section, I interrogate the claim that mainstream political Islam acts as a “gateway drug” to radical extremism in the form of Al Qaeda or ISIS. This thesis gained popularity in recent years, yet its validity is open to question and should be subjected to further scrutiny and analysis. I examine these questions in this article.

Technical note: Low meteorological influence found in 2019 Amazonia fires

Abstract. The sudden increase in Amazon fires early in the 2019 fire season made global headlines. While it has been heavily speculated that the fires were caused by deliberate human ignitions or human-induced landscape changes, there have also been suggestions that meteorological conditions could have played a role. Here, we ask two questions: were the 2019 fires in the Amazon unprecedented in the historical record, and did the meteorological conditions contribute to the increased burning? To answer this, we take advantage of a recently developed modelling framework which optimises a simple fire model against observations of burnt area and whose outputs are described as probability densities. This allowed us to test the probability of the 2019 fire season occurring due to meteorological conditions alone. The observations show that the burnt area was higher than in previous years in regions where there is already substantial deforestation activity in the Amazon. Overall, 11 % of the area recorded the highest early season (June–August) burnt area since the start of our observational record, with areas in Brazil's central arc of deforestation recording the highest ever monthly burnt area in August. However, areas outside of the regions of widespread deforestation show less burnt area than the historical average, and the optimised model shows that this low burnt area would have extended over much of the eastern Amazon region, including in Brazil's central arc of deforestation with high fire occurrence in 2019. We show that there is a 9 % likelihood of the observed August fires being caused by meteorological conditions alone, decreasing to 6 %–7 % along the agricultural–humid forest interface in Brazil's central states and 8 % in Paraguay and Bolivia dry forests. Our results suggest that changes in land use, cover or management are the likely drivers of the substantial increase in the 2019 early fire season burnt area, especially in Brazil. Burnt area for September in the arc of deforestation had a 14 %–26 % probability of being caused by meteorological conditions, potentially coinciding with a shift in fire-related policy from South American governments.

The Effect of Dr. Mohamed Mahathir on the Malaysian Economy

Dr. Mahathir is often credited with Malaysia’s economic success post-1980. However, it is well known that the Mahathir regime centralized power in the Office of the Prime Minister and extended state capacity, creating a system of government susceptible to corruption. This corruption eventually made global headlines in 2015 with the 1MDB $5 billion dollar scandal. Thus, while Malaysia did experience growth that coincided with the reign of Dr. Mahathir, it is possible that his regime limited this positive change. We use the Synthetic Control Method to study the impact of Dr. Mahathir on the Malaysian economy. We compare economic outcomes in Malaysia under Dr. Mahathir’s reign with outcomes in counterfactual Malaysia, a Synthetic Control constructed from a set of similar countries that did not experience such change. We find that while Malaysia did experience growth throughout Dr. Mahathir’s leadership, GDP per-capita was far below (approximately $4,000 per-capita below 9-years following the treatment) its potential as measured by Synthetic Malaysia. This study provides some evidence of a negative economic effect from power centralization and, perhaps, from enhanced state capacity.

La Apatrida and TPS: Counter-Hegemonic News and Reclaiming Dignity in Haitian National Newspapers

This study examined the news coverage of two immigration stories involving Haitian migrants that made international headlines. Those two news stories were (a) the deportation of Dominicans of Haitian descent and (b) the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for displaced Haitians residing in the United States after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. This study sampled 198 Haitian newspaper articles over the 6-month period that both stories made global headlines in 2015 and then in 2017. The two Haitian national newspapers Le Nouvelliste, the country’s paper of record, and Le Nacional, the country’s newest daily, affirmed the rights and dignity of people of Haitian origin displaced by policy attributed as xenophobic and racist. Haitian newspapers described Haitian migrant families as being equally Dominican, regardless of their status, and in the United States, as being lawful migrants with rights under TPS. Haitian newspapers varied in their coverage of the governments of the two countries, being more critical of the administration of President Donald Trump, but more nuanced in their coverage of the Dominican Republic’s government.

UK Medical Students' Experience of Culture & Communication in Cuban Health Care.

Final-year medical students at UK universities are able to do elective placements elsewhere, to learn about other health care systems. We chose Cuba because of its excellent health outcomes despite relatively few resources. We were struck, for instance, when Cuba made global headlines in 2015 as the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. And, since the UK's underfunded National Health Service is experiencing high demand and increasing pressure, we sought to understand more about Cuba's socialist health system, where health care spending per capita is much lower than the UK's, but life expectancy is almost the same.

After the Paris Attacks: Responses in Canada, Europe, and Around the Globe, Edward M. Iacobucci and Stephen J. Toope, (eds)

Reviewed by: Jez Littlewood, Carleton UniversityAfter the summer of terror in Europe in 2016, readers picking up After the Paris Attacks: Responses in Canada, Europe, and Around the Globe may expect a book about recent terrorism in Europe. It is, but not in the manner they may first believe.The Paris attacks in the title refer to the 7 January 2015 assault on the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo by Said and Cherif Kouachi, the separate 7 January attack by Amedy Coulibaly, and the 9 January attack by Coulibaly on a kosher grocery store. The Kouachi brothers killed eleven, injured eleven, and during their escape summarily executed a prostrate police officer. After extensive hunt across Paris, they were killed in a shoot-out on 9 January. Coulibaly first shot and injured a jogger and then killed a police officer and a city worker, before killing a further four Jewish shoppers at the supermarket. He was killed when police stormed the building.This edited collection draws upon contributions from a conference on 9 March 2015 at the University of Toronto. With two exceptions, all twenty-four contributors are Torontonians by location.These attacks shocked Western states, as indicated by global headlines, marches, and gatherings in solidarity, and the presence of world leaders on 11 January in Paris. As Toope notes in his postscript, the rationale for the conference was the assumption that the attacks represented inflection point and, in Toope's view, an important moment in global affairs (212).Following that January in France, ninety-one other countries suffered terrorist attacks in 2015. Neither editors nor contributors could anticipate the wave of attacks in the following eighteen months, including during 2015 in Ankara (October), Paris (November), and San Bernardino (December), and in in Brussels (March), Orlando (June), Wurzburg, Ansbach, and Reutlingen in Germany (July), Columbus, Ohio (November), and Berlin (December), as well as a further eighteen attacks in France in 2016, including when a truck was driven into the crowd gathered on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice to celebrate Bastille Day, killing eighty-six and injuring over 430. This incomplete list misses many of the 29,000-plus people killed by terrorists in 2015. Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria account for 72% of all deaths, and the Middle East and North Africa account for 84% of the 12,089 attacks and 95% of the deaths overall. Terrorism takes many forms, but despite this it remains correct to note that terrorism conducted or inspired by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State remains the predominant terrorist threat to Western democratic states. Indeed, as the Global Terrorism Index 2016 report notes, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries recorded 577 deaths from terrorism in 2015, compared to seventy-seven in 2014.[1]It is not possible to read the book while ignoring this context. Even for readers less familiar with terrorism in Western states or worldwide, so many attacks (and responses to them) have occurred since January 2015 that understanding has changed. In addition, altered perceptions are not solely related to terrorism, but also to the rise of populism in the United States and Europe. So, a fundamental question is whether or not a book focused on early 2015 is worth reading two years after the events it refers to have passed--and terrorist attacks have become much worse in France, and elsewhere, in the ensuing period? …

Policy by Other Means: Collective Self-Defense and the Politics of Japan's Postwar Constitutional Reinterpretations

Policy by Other Means:Collective Self-Defense and the Politics of Japan's Postwar Constitutional Reinterpretations Adam P. Liff (bio) keywords japan, security policy, u.s.-japan alliance, collective self-defense, japanese constitution [End Page 139] executive summary This article analyzes Japan's landmark cabinet decision reinterpreting the constitution to allow the limited exercise of collective self-defense (CSD) in both a historical and a contemporary context and assesses its implications for the conditions under which Japan may use military force. main argument In July 2014, a historic cabinet decision reinterpreted Article 9 of Japan's 1947 constitution to allow the use of force to aid an ally under attack, overturning 60 years of authoritative constitutional interpretations categorically prohibiting Japan's exercise of CSD. The decision was followed by a revision of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines and landmark legislation intended to transform Japan's security policy. Yet the change is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Japan's self-imposed precondition for the use of force by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) remains uniquely strict: an armed attack posing an existential threat to Japan's security. Nor is this the first case of a major reinterpretation of Article 9. Though its original wording remains untouched, the article's effective policy significance has changed repeatedly over 70 years in accordance with shifting domestic political winds and perceived strategic exigencies. Specific to post-2014 developments, understanding what changed and why—especially how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his allies' push for full exercise of CSD failed—elucidates the strategic, political, and normative factors shaping changes to Japan's security policy and the U.S.-Japan alliance. policy implications • While Japan may now legally exercise "limited" collective self-defense, unique, self-imposed conditions appear so strict that the use of force in support of allies or partners outside a defense-of-Japan scenario seems unlikely. • Security legislation in effect since 2016 opens up space for more expansive JSDF logistical support for U.S. military operations, bilateral planning, and exercises, as well as new authorities that somewhat resemble collective security or CSD operations in peacetime, including use of small arms during UN peacekeeping operations and protection of foreign militaries engaged in activities contributing to Japan's defense. • Without formal constitutional revision (at a minimum), however, more ambitious efforts to fundamentally transform Article 9's interpretation or the scope of scenarios in which Japan can use force overseas are unlikely without major domestic political realignments. [End Page 140] On July 1, 2014, global headlines were awash with news of Japan's historic cabinet decision "reinterpreting" its never-revised 1947 constitution to allow the country for the first time to exercise collective self-defense (CSD)—the UN Charter–sanctioned right to use force to aid an ally under attack. This substantively unprecedented, controversial decision spearheaded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe overturned 60 years of authoritative government interpretations forbidding the exercise of CSD on constitutional grounds. It sparked a political firestorm domestically, and its policy impact was swift: in April 2015, Tokyo and Washington rewrote the seminal document articulating the allies' respective responsibilities and procedures for operational coordination. In March 2016, landmark legislation intended to transform and "normalize" Japan's security posture and expand the roles and missions of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) came into effect. The debate that was sparked by the Abe administration's push to enable Japan to exercise CSD without formally revising the constitution's famous Article 9 "peace clause" became a revealing focal point for the latest intense contestation of core issues permeating Japan's postwar domestic politics. These issues range from the legitimacy and appropriate role of Japan's de facto military and alliance with the United States to deeply sensitive domestic political issues concerning civil-military relations, Japan's democratic institutions, and even national identity. The political atmosphere was highly incendiary. Domestic and overseas criticism of Abe's allegedly unprecedented affront to Japan's democratic norms and constitutionalism was widespread, while warnings of resurgent Japanese "militarism" abounded and opposition parties disparaged bills codifying the reinterpretation in law as "war legislation" (senso hoan) that would inevitably trap young Japanese in foreign wars "on the far side of the...

The Politics of Photography: Visual Depictions of Syrian Refugees in U.K. Online Media

Research indicates that news images of refugees have become increasingly negative, often portraying them as either innocent victims, who lack political agency, or as security threats, with the potential to threaten the host country's national security and identity. This article explores how Syrian refugees have been visually portrayed in the U.K. online media by employing a visual quantitative content analysis of 299 photographs of Syrian refugees in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Independent. It looks at photographs published after images of Alan Kurdi, a young Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, made global headlines. The findings suggest that Syrian refugees are regularly securitized and cast by the media as “Others” who exist in the state of exception.

The Social Justice Turn: Cultivating “Critical Hope” in an Age of Despair

Recent global headlines about suicide attacks, xenophobic rhetoric, systemic gun violence, and the continued displacement of those fleeing civil war and environmental catastrophe have foregrounded social justice issues pertaining to race, nationality, socioeconomic status, religion, and a host of other factors. We suggest in this paper that the pervasive despair of our current historical moment has necessitated the urgent development of the conceptual Justice Turn in service-learning. This move uses as a foundational starting point three trends that have been consistently marginalized but are gaining momentum in our field: a) critique of the field's roots in charity; b) a problematization of White normativity, paired with the bolstering of diverse voices and perspectives, and c) the embrace of emotional elements including tension, ambiguity, and discomfort. Finally, we offer critical hope (Bozalek, Carolissen, Liebowitz, & Boler, 2014; Freire, 2007) as a conceptual space in which service-learning as a field may simultaneously acknowledge the historical and contextual roots of current despair, while using this affective element as a pedagogical and curricular means to engage service-learning more intentionally as a vehicle for social justice goals. It was grounds for despair. On September 2nd, 2015, a three-year-old Syrian boy named Alan Kurdi washed ashore on a Mediterranean beach. The drowning was not an unusual occurrence in the region, as news articles and witness reports had many times made second-page international headlines, warning of the exodus out of Syria, and calling alarm to the deplorable conditions of human trafficking boats. What made Alan's story front-page news, however, was the graphic imagery that quickly invoked in citizens around the world an emotional connection to this victim of civil war and structural inequality. Alan, one child of thousands lost to a circumstance positioned firmly in a larger web of structural restrictions and political conflict, became every person's child in the global imaginary. Countless public figures saw in Alan a child they knew and loved; former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recalled the moment he and his wife saw the photo, and it evoked memories of their own son at that age (The Canadian Press, 2015). Social media forums erupted with the hashtag #Alankurdi, mourning his death and the circumstances leading up to it, forming support groups for Syrian refugees, and organizing protests. The notorious photograph rendered the Syrian conflict and its consequences more than a distant polit ical story; for many, Alan became an intimate personification of a civil war, and the face that ignited ethical debates about--among other things--who is granted the privilege of mobility, who has the power to patrol borders, what it means to work for social justice, and to what degree each individual, organization, and government is responsible for taking action when humans suffer. These questions, catalyzed by the death of a child, became the raison d'etre of this article. In tandem with the hateful rhetoric of far right parties in Europe and elsewhere, and popularized xenophobic responses to the global refugee crisis, the death of Alan Kurdi implored to ask what the field of service-learning and community engagement can and ought to do in light of this emotionally charged, highly divisive historical moment. Service-learning is ideally positioned to put a human face to issues of inequality and human suffering; notions of mobility, power, privilege, and responsibility are especially vital to this field in a time when the global events of 2015 and 2016 have caused a heightened sense of urgency and a widening political divisiveness between constructed binaries of black and white, migrant and refugee, police officer and citizen, right and left politics, Republican and Democrat, and more broadly, us and them. High profile suicide attacks in Lahore, Brussels, Ougadougou, and Nice (to name only a few), escalating racialized police brutality, mass gun violence, the polarizing rhetoric of political campaigns here and abroad, and the rising rate of political and environmental refugees, have all profoundly shifted the landscape in which service-learning in higher education operates, and therefore must influence how we respond as educators, scholars, practitioners, and citizens within a field that continually navigates border crossings of all sorts. …