💡The TSI Insider💡

Dear Readers,

This is the final edition of Beyond Borders Brief for the Spring 2025 semester. The entire BBB team would like to thank you for being part of this journey. Your support has meant a great deal as we’ve grown from our launch in January to a community of over 450 subscribers today. Working on BBB has been one of the most rewarding parts of this semester. Beyond the content, what makes this newsletter special are the team’s thoughtful conversations and the opportunity to spotlight stories that often go unheard. While this is our last regular issue for the semester, D² will continue to publish separately, and you can keep an eye out for a series of special editions over this summer. As finals approach, we’re pausing publication now, so the team can finish the academic year strong and begin planning for the fall.

Thank you again for reading.

-The Beyond Borders Brief Editorial Staff

🚨What We’re Watching🎥

📍Governing by Emergency: Noboa’s First Full Term Begins

📚Facts: On April 13, Daniel Noboa was elected to his first full four-year term as Ecuador’s president, though the election results are contested amidst fraud allegations by leftist challenger Luisa Gonzalez. The Noboa family, whose fortune stems from real estate and banana exports, includes Daniel’s father, Álvaro Noboa, a billionaire who has himself run for the presidency six times. Daniel assumed the presidency in 2023 after Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly amid an impeachment process, invoking Ecuador’s “muerte cruzada” provision, which allowed him to rule by decree and triggered early elections. Unlike Lasso’s neoliberal policies, Noboa and his Vice President, Verónica Abad, advocate for decreased government involvement in economic matters, education, healthcare, and pensions. 

💭Analysis: The recent re-election of Noboa raises concerns over authoritarianism, intensifies U.S. alignment, and challenges checks and balances. Noboa’s use of executive power, namely his declaration of a state of emergency shortly before the election, has drawn criticism for bypassing legislative oversight. Noboa has also signaled a willingness to host U.S. military bases despite a constitutional ban on foreign installations, a stance that has sparked concern over Ecuador’s sovereignty. Though framed as part of a crackdown on organized crime, Noboa’s move reflects a growing tilt towards securitization and militarized cooperation with Washington. Noboa’s policy priorities may reflect the growing regional influence of Bukele’s model in El Salvador, where security operations have expanded executive power and gained popular support. Together, these shifts suggest a pendulum shift toward stability through force rather than democratic consensus.

📍Tunisian Opposition Leaders Sentenced in Sham Trials

📚Facts: On April 19, a Tunisian court convicted a group of 40 opposition politicians and critics of Tunisian President Kais Saied on charges of conspiracy and terrorism. Included in the group were leaders of the National Salvation Front, the main opposition party to Saied. The defendants were not provided due process protections during the trial, and some of the recently convicted were held in pretrial detention illegally for over two years. Others were tried in absentia after fleeing the country. Saied suspended the Tunisian parliament in 2021, rewrote the constitution, and won reelection in 2023 with 90% of the popular vote following the criticized jailing of political opposition. 

💭Analysis: Of the North African and Middle Eastern states that experienced regime change since the 2010 Arab Spring, Tunisia was the only successful transition from authoritarian to democracy until the recent verdict. Saied reversed the post-Arab Spring democratic reforms, and the recent verdict has been criticized as a prime example of Saied’s regime stifling dissent. Human Rights Watch demanded an end to mass prosecutions and sham trials. Saied’s authoritarian policies coincide with a regional trend away from human rights and democracy, potentially imperiling MENA’s prospects for democratic governance. 

📍WHO Members Finalize Historic Global Health Agreement

📚Facts: On April 16, the 194 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) reached an agreement to strengthen global responses to future pandemics, applying lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. The accord includes measures to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, drugs, and essential technology between high and low-income countries. To supply low-income countries, the WHO would require 10% of manufactured vaccines to be donated and another 10% to be provided at “affordable prices.” The treaty contains protections for health workers, regulations for new drugs, and measures to prevent animal-human disease transmission. Three years in the making, the WHO is expected to adopt the treaty in May. Once adopted, it will take effect one month after 60 member states ratify it, but it remains unclear how long the ratification will take. The United States’ absence from the talks reflected Trump’s decision in January to withdraw from the WHO. While the agreement is legally binding, the second in the WHO’s 75-year history, there is no enforcement mechanism, meaning the successful execution will depend on the will of member states to comply with the accord.  

💭Analysis: The agreement signals a strong commitment from governments for global health, especially in the wake of rising nationalism and retreat from international institutions. Despite the absence of the U.S., formerly the largest financial donor to the WHO, contributing $1.3 billion between 2022 and 2023, the accord demonstrates that countries are still willing to cooperate on shared challenges like pandemic preparedness. In February, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, warned that the recent termination of U.S. funding jeopardizes critical health efforts. Although the U.S. absence weakens the accord due to its dominant role in medical innovation, the agreement shows that the 192 WHO member states remain committed to multilateralism and international health cooperation in certain fields, despite the Trump administration’s reduced emphasis on global health funding. 

👀Looking Ahead👀

📍Global Shipping Sets Sail Toward Emissions Goals Following Net-Zero Agreement

📚Facts: Member states in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a subagency of the United Nations, set a goal of reducing emissions from shipping vessels 30% by 2035 and 65% by 2040. To do so, the IMO will tax every ton of greenhouse gases emitted above a certain level with a minimum fee of $100. The fees are estimated to generate around $12 million, which will be used to invest in green shipping technologies and aid the shipping sectors of developing countries. Of the IMO’s 176 member states, 63 voted for the plan, among them China, Brazil, South Africa, and many European states, while fossil fuel giants with large fleets, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, voted against the agreement.

💭Analysis: Environmental critics say the move is significant, but the fee is too small to implement any real change. Some shipping firms may choose to pay fees instead of switching to expensive green energy. Pacific island nations pushed hard for the tax as rising sea levels threaten their existence. Still, Fiji, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu abstained from the vote in hopes of winning a more effective solution at the IMO’s October meeting, when measures are set to be formally adopted. The push for net zero by 2050 will increase food prices as shipping costs rise, part of the reason the IMO investment fund will aid developing nations. The “Net Zero Fund” is dedicated to cleaning up the maritime sector, the green transition, and compensation for negative economic impacts on developing nations, disappointing some climate activists who sought broader climate financing.

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See You On Thursday For 🌊The Deep Dive!🌊

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