The Syrian conflict has presented itself as a complex situation that has resulted in countless amounts of analysis and news articles dedicated to the political and security aspects of the crisis. Although these writings are indispensable for the ability to understand what is taking place, there hasn’t been enough attention on another aspect of the […]
When the average American is asked how much of the federal budget they believe is allocated to foreign aid, the response is 25 percent — twenty-five times the current amount. When Americans are surveyed on how much funding they believe should be allocated to foreign aid, the response is 10 percent. In reality, USAID comprises less than […]
Our favorite longform reads and blog posts from the past week.
By Manuel Langendorf In the absence of other alternatives, Islamists were elected by default. This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. Fair Observer’s Middle East Editor, Manuel Langendorf, speaks to Mhamed Biygautane from the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai — a renowned expert on political Islam […]
It is not often that a rug becomes caught in the crosshairs of foreign policy and cast away from artistic appreciation, yet the 1920s Armenian orphan rug that was planned for display in December at the Smithsonian Museum suffers just this fate. Bound by the common thread of their identity as children and survivors of […]
Ring of Fire: Why Our Military’s Toxic Burn Pits Are Making Soldiers Sick By Katie Drummond The Verge In this week’s most disturbing and comprehensive exposé, Katie Drummond reveals the alarming extent of the U.S. military’s pollution problem and its devastating effects on soldiers and their families. The Snowden Leaks and the Public By Alan […]
In my daily emails, I often get letters from professionals, both entry level or late career, asking how to break in or make the transition into the international development sector. Although an individual may have international experience, this does not guarantee a lateral move or easy entry into the international development sector. The development sector […]
How well the U.S. can pay our debts has been in the news lately. There’s the government shutdown, which resulted in the delay of death benefits to families of fallen soldiers, and of course, the upcoming vote on raising the U.S. debt-limit. The issue of the death benefits was particularly emotional and struck a nerve […]
The best long form reads and blog posts for the week of October 25. 2013.
Last week, in an apparent fit of inspiration brought on by the government shutdown, Balaji Srinivasan gave a speech on what it would be like if Silicon Valley were to secede from the United States government. Srinivasan, a tech entrepreneur, praised Silicon Valley and the broader high-tech industry it represents for not being responsible for securitized mortgages, […]
How serious is China about “the introduction of a new reserve currency to replace the dominant U.S. dollar,” one of its proposed steps for creating the “de-Americanized world” that the official Xinhua news agency called for in the run-up to the denouement-cum-deferral of the U.S. fiscal crisis? American commentators’ responses have ranged from the […]
Since the first World conference on Women in 1975, the issue of women’s rights was brought to the international stage which led to the General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). These events also coincided with the international feminist movement of the 1970s. In the […]
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