The appointment of Raphael Bostic to head the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in March 2017 was both long overdue and highly appropriate.  Until 

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For a country long defined by ethnicity and social conservatism (divorce and homosexuality were illegal till the 1990s; abortion still is), Leo Varadkar's elevation to the post of Taoiseach, or Irish leader, was a triple whammy- at 39 he is Ireland's youngest ever prime minister, and its first openly gay, and mixed-race one. An Indo-Irish medical doctor involved in center-right politics since youth, Varadkar, won the leadership of the ruling Fine Gael Party in June 2017, and with it, the premiership.

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Despite his barrier-breaking firsts in becoming prime-minister, Varadkar's legacy will rest on what he does next.  Once labeled the Celtic Tiger for its miraculous economic modernization, his country still feels the impacts of the Great Recession.  Most importantly, Varadkar must disentangle Ireland from the United Kingdom in a post-Brexit world.  Ireland not only shares deep trade and cultural ties with the UK, but a land border that remains an intractable flash-point in Brexit negotiations. 

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BRILLIANT 2017