In the past, foreign policy was an alien concept for many, especially a youth audience. It was something primarily influenced by diplomats in D.C. and left off the radar of most teenagers. However, with recent technological advancements, global politics can now be viewed from everywhere. It’s no longer based solely on distant treaties and summits, it’s about the news we watch from our phones, the protests initiated in our cities, and the laws that impact what we’re allowed to say online.

Simply put, foreign policy is no longer boring anymore because it’s unavoidable. It’s immediate, emotional, and personal, forcing Gen Z to pay attention.

Foreign Policy at Our Fingertips

The primary reason for the inescapability of foreign policy lies in the advancements made with social media. Previously, you had to purchase a newspaper subscription or filter through hours of radio content to figure out what was going on in the world. Now, you can simply scroll past it from the comfort of your couch.

Footage of bombings, videos from Ukraine, reels about Taiwan, and tweets explaining the functions of sanctions, proxy wars, and bilateralism are all showing up on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter.

It’s often chaotic, readily available, and heavily misinformed. In fact, it’s estimated that 1 in 5 TikTok videos likely contains misinformation. However, the undeniable truth is that foreign policy is now part of our everyday digital life. You can’t avoid it, even if you want to. You’ll constantly be exposed to tenuous and often misguided information in the form of a quick 30 second clip. Whether you’re an experienced politician or novice teen, the algorithm doesn’t discriminate.

Teens Are Speaking Out

However, the digitization of media has also given the younger generation a platform to speak out about global events. High schoolers are taking initiative to organize school walk-outs in protest of fascism and even directly engage in advocacy efforts. D’Angelo McDade, an 18 year old from describes a prerogative that comes with this platform: “We, as youth, must now be the change that we seek.”

One may criticize this movement as shallow, oversimplified, or based on speculative sources, but it’s undeniable that our generation has not shied away from foreign policy. Even if we don’t engage with it through pompous diplomatic exchanges, we aren’t apathetic to the challenges our world is facing. Foreign policy is no longer something unreachable, the youth now has an opportunity to shape the future we’re about to inherit.

Stifling the Youth Voice

Despite TikTok offering a platform for foreign policy, the U.S. government has moved toward banning it, citing national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. All of a sudden, millions of teenagers who use TikTok around the world are being dragged into a conversation about data sovereignty, digital infrastructure, and the U.S.-China rivalry.

Most teens may not be aware of the specificities within Section 702, but they do know that global power struggles are affecting the apps they use, the things they say, and the culture they live in. These issues have become jarringly real and present.

Global issues used to be a conversation reserved for history class. However, now it’s happening live. For the past few years our generation has been constantly watching, posting about, and protesting some of the most brutal humanitarian crises of our time. Even if most teens aren’t fully aware or understand the history or politics regarding a situation, they’ve likely still formed some sort of opinion because we are faced with exposure to these issues daily. We see the bodies. We hear the personal testimonies. We witness the atrocities.

That kind of exposure forces engagement. It creates emotional investment and it makes it difficult to look away or ignore. TikTok, Instagram, and other social media apps have paved the pathway for this accessibility and direct interaction. The absence of these sites risks stifling the youth voice further.

The Future Is Global so What Now?

Almost all challenges our world faces including climate change, AI, and even human rights can’t be addressed without engaging with international politics. Every major issue we face is global by nature. 

The youngest generation will live in a world impacted by the consequences of these next decisions. It’s impossible to be apathetic in this atmosphere. The luxury of ignoring what happens in Geneva, Ukraine or Taiwan is long gone. Our safety, our jobs, and our freedoms are now intrinsically connected.

However, now that foreign policy isn’t boring anymore, what are the next steps?

The primary action we can undertake is educating ourselves. We shouldn’t just be mindlessly reposting clips on TikTok, but rather seriously attempting to understand how foreign policy operates on a global scale. Who approves sanctions? Where are human rights being violated? And what role does the U.S. have in these issues?

Shifting the apathetic mindset is a good start but the next step is active curiosity. Simply put, our world is unstable. The lines between online and offline advocacy have blurred and foreign policy isn’t something abstract anymore. It’s our reality.

And it’s not boring at all.