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Over half of the worlds population is female, yet they unjustly receive an unfair balance in life from conception. No society is spared from it’s second class treatment of the female population. No matter how long and hard the fight has been — and while some countries are clearly better than others — girls are […]

  I know.  Shocking, isn’t it?  But, that’s essentially what the Nuclear Energy Institute is saying in its totally unsurprising new report, “Nuclear Export Controls: A Comparative Analysis of National Regimes for the Control of Nuclear Materials, Components and Technology.” Issued on October 1st, the report was done by James A. Glasgow, Elina Teplinsky and Stephen L. Markus at […]

On October 1, Guy Ryder assumed his elected position as the new Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Ryder replaces Juan Somavía, who held the post since 1999, eighteen months ahead of schedule. The Director-General of the ILO is a key figure in promoting the human right to work and in addressing its realization […]

  When traditional television was looking the other way, YouTube launched a truckload of what they call “original channels.” The channels cover everything from food and travel to autos and topics for moms. According to an article in the Guardian on Oct. 8: The Google-owned video website has linked up with media companies including Hat […]

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has faced accusations of being vague about the policies he would pursue as president. Today, in his foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute, he appeared to deliberately emphasize detail, particularly on defense issues, though some argue that the speech as a whole was itself vague. As he […]

Despite a strong showing by Henrique Capriles Radonski, not surprisingly Hugo Chavez emerged victorious from Venezuela’s presidential election on Oct. 7, 2012. He won 54% of the vote to Capriles’ 45%. Over 80% of eligible voters participated, with little to no reports of fraud or coercion that I’ve read. While still a comfortable margin, Capriles’ […]

A large part of advocating for human rights comes involves bearing witness. While we will never be able to prevent all the atrocities in the world, the hope is that by bringing these realities to light we can gather the political will to make them stop. In this regard, the media plays a huge role […]

As historian Richard Hofstadter pointed out in his classic 1964 essay “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” U.S. history has featured recurring waves of conspiracy theories. Sometimes they have become prominent; sometimes they abide below the surface. Nineteenth-century versions saw threats that were vague and ill-defined (Illuminati, Masons, Papists, Monarchists); more recent ones have depicted […]

Last night’s presidential debate on domestic policy offered a brief preview of the upcoming foreign policy debates. When it comes to popular perception, China arguably embodies the threat to U.S. competitiveness more than any other country. Last night, only Mr. Romney brought up China, and his remarks include the following (transcript available here): My plan […]

  Another voice has been added to the laser enrichment debate: an editorial in the science journal Nature argues that the NRC’s decision to approve issuance of an operating license to GE-Hitachi for a laser enrichment facility was “unfortunate”, and that “The NRC should introduce rules to ensure that its future moves are better informed.” […]

Democracies feature checks and balances on power, but government branches (in theory at least) are supposed to work in concert to run the country and support the citizenry. This cooperation seems to have broken down in Pakistan, where recently the judiciary and executive clashed over the status of corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari. […]

  For those of you who don’t agree with Senator Kyl and think the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is actually a useful regime, this course is for you.  And for those who do agree with the Senator, well, you might learn something. The CTBTO will be holding an Advanced Science Course, “Around the Globe and […]