The online world has been all aflutter in recent weeks over the introduction of two pieces of legislation in Congress: the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House of Representatives. As PROTECT IP already passed in the Senate, last week the focus shifted to the hearings […]
The debt dynamics equation was in the past of interest only to sovereign credit analysts (such as this blogger) and macro policy wonks. Now, more people want to know about it. You can generate such an equation that is elaborate or not, but the gist is the following: The primary budget surplus, that is, government revenues minus expenditures — not […]
The final paper assignment for my class on energy and the environment at NYU’s MS in Global Affairs program this semester was to “…provide for all the energy needs of the world in the year 2050.” I said “In the next 40 years, we will need to transition to safe, secure, affordable, clean and abundant […]
Imagine having no country to call your own. For an estimated 12 million people around the world, that is a daily fact. Individuals who are not considered nationals of any country have no written rights. This means no access to health care, no chance to vote, no property of your own, and often no education. […]
The crisis in Syria continues to deteriorate. Recently, the U.N. reported that more than 5,000 people have died in Syria. Yesterday, Human Rights Watch published a report providing firm documentation that the very highest levels of Syria’s government regime gave security forces “shoot to kill” orders. And today, security forces are “clashing” with protestors in […]
Every 90 seconds a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth. That’s 1,000 girls and women a day, more than half a million women every year. Additionally, more than 1 million babies are stillborn each year because their mothers could not access the proper medical care. And yet experts say more than 80 percent of these […]
The issue of exclusive breast-feeding for the first year has been an area of confusion for many mothers in developing nations, especially following the marketing practices of many formula companies to push products in a misleading manner, an issue about which I have previously written. However, for mothers who are HIV-positive, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, exclusive breastfeeding […]
One of the uprisings in the Middle East that has failed to garner a lot of attention is the situation in Bahrain. Even though Bahrainis took to the Lulu Roundabout much the same way Egyptians did in Tahrir Square just days after Mubarak’s ouster and before major protests broke out in Libya, the story itself […]
The U.S. formally ended the Iraq War today. As The New York Times reports: Almost nine years after the first American tanks began massing on the Iraq border, the Pentagon declared an official end to its mission here, closing a troubled conflict that helped reshape American politics and left a bitter legacy of anti-American sentiment […]
The field of foreign policy has been described as a ‘city of men’- but as can be imagined, it is not the only discipline where a gender imbalance has been noticed. I asked Patricia Moser, President and one of the founders of WIIS Switzerland, about the situation with respect to international security and security studies. […]
Months after South Sudan emerged as the world’s newest country, celebrations have died down and the government in Juba must address the numerous challenges that face the fledgling nation. Apart from addressing unresolved issues with the north and the many domestic challenges, the key to South Sudan’s progress will be maintaining good governance. Much of […]
I had a friend in college who was discovering Islam around the time I was. Though we were both born Muslims, we were now understanding it and practicing of our own accord. We were not converts, but “Reverts”. After college, she went on to study Islam at a madrassa-esque school for women and I went on […]
Popular from Press
