Abigail Becker

Abigail Becker

Abigail Becker is an International Relations and East Asian Area Studies double major at the University of Southern California. She has conducted research with USC International Relations professor Andrew Coe on the effects of economic sanctions on rogue states, as well as patterns of urban development with the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Her core interests include foreign policy, US-Korean relations and East Asian politics and security. In 2013, she studied at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, South Korea, as a Global East Asia scholar and spent the spring semester of 2015 at Yonsei University in Seoul. Abigail also worked for the US Department of State as a Domestic Political Section intern at the US Embassy Seoul and is an Undergraduate Fellow at the USC Korean Studies Institute. Abigail joined Glimpse from the Globe as a correspondent in May 2014.

Mind Games at the Pyongyang Marathon

In January 2014, North Korea announced that the annual Pyongyang Marathon would be open to amateur foreign runners. (In previous years, the event was only open to elite foreign runners.) Pyongyang seemed to be finally opening up to the rest ...

Public Transportation and Modi’s Environmentalism

A streamlined public transportation system is an important element of any modern city’s infrastructure. Metro and subway systems reduce traffic, cut emissions and connect populations. Look to Asia for prime examples of such systems; Japan is home to 82 of ...

The Vietnam War’s Legacy in Asia

50 years ago yesterday, the first American troops landed in Vietnam to launch the Vietnam War, one of the longest wars in US history. For the US, the war had countless repercussions, including the death of 58,000 Americans, the passing ...

A Hard Break: Scotland’s Struggle for Power

This article is the first of a two-part series on the aftermath of Scotland’s referendum on independence. Please visit the second article, “The Ties That Bind Are Giving Scotland Rope Burn,” by Nathaniel Haas When the United Kingdom (UK) granted ...

Stop the Boats: Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders

In 2014 the Australian government launched a shocking and bizarre strategy to tackle their immigration problem. The campaign strategically aims to discourage immigrants from even thinking about coming to Australia rather than trying to stop them at the border. The ...

Housing Bubble: Why China Should Be More Worried About Its Ghost Towns

For some decades, China has inched closer to overtake the United States in terms of GDP growth and economic prosperity. Thanks to booming industries and a massive influx of new workers, Chinese people looked at their economy through rose-colored lenses. ...

Putin’s Next Project: Republika Srpska’s Independence

This article is the third part of Glimpse’s three-part series on independence While most of the world has their eyes fixed on the crisis in Crimea, a Balkan nation southwest of Ukraine is currently experiencing one of the most tense ...

Politicized Peace in Colombia

In Latin America, the Cuban Missile Crisis largely defined the Cold War. However, the ideological rivalry of the era touched the continent beyond the borders of Cuba. In Colombia, turmoil between the government and communist rebel groups have haunted the ...

How the US, Korea and India Beat China In the Battle For Soft Power

In 1990, Professor Joseph Nye defined soft power as the ability to persuade, rather than coerce, others to reach a desired outcome. Since then, countries around the world have invested in their cultural and moral reputations abroad and have focused ...

The Correspondents Weigh-In: Crises in Gaza and Ukraine

Biz Peabody Nationalism: long thought to be one of the strongest forces in the world. The exact definition of nationalism is the amalgamation of feelings, principles and efforts in the name of patriotic pride for one’s nation or country. The ...