In The News

Tunisia Remains Arab Spring’s Lone Success Story

Chris Miller February 5, 2015
The wave of protests that swept through the Middle East in 2011, known as the Arab Spring, rocked governments and ended a handful of dictatorships. Citizens of those countries anticipated a new era in the region’s politics amid the power of activism. “All of the revolts of 2011, except for Tunisia’s, have ended in tragedy,” notes Chris Miller, PhD candidate at Yale University and research...

Obama in India: Time to Get Serious on Common Goals

Vikram Mansharamani January 22, 2015
As the world’s two biggest democracies, India and the United States share many interests on trade, investment and security matters. US President Barack Obama will attend India’s Republic Day celebration on January 26, and many in business and government look forward to a stronger partnership between the two countries on energy, manufacturing and IT. “If Modi and his team can help get India out of...

Charlie Hebdo Attacks Stir Resolve and Contemplation

Stathis N. Kalyvas January 15, 2015
Terrorists hope to incite fear, panic and capitulation, but so far Europe is resisting such response after surprise attacks on the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, and a Kosher grocery store. “And because they are so shocking, these attacks tempt those targeted into reacting in a kneejerk way, ultimately playing into the hands of the attackers and becoming self-fulfilling...

Arms and Men: Technology’s Shadow Over Democracy

John Ferejohn and Frances Rosenbluth December 9, 2014
The nomination of Ashton Carter, a physics instructor and researcher, as the US Secretary of Defense offers a reminder how modern war increasingly relies on technology rather than collective human strength. The new form of warfare launched against Iraq was described by a previous president as “shock and awe.” In the United States, massive troop mobilization for a national causee and the...

EU Politics Could Look to Multiethnic India for Strategies

Pallavi Aiyar November 11, 2014
Visions of a united Europe are under strain as anti-EU parties have made political gains in France, Sweden, the UK and other nations. Although the European Union is often thought of as a “United States of Europe,” journalist Pallavi Aiyar argues that the EU more resembles chaotic India. “India, like the European Union, is the antithesis of the 19th-century European conception of the ‘nation state...

Putin, ISIS, Ebola: How Globalization Harms Us More Than Helps

Melik Kaylan October 16, 2014
Upheaval over geopolitical rivalries, religious strife and disease raises questions as to whether greater interconnectedness is destabilizing the world. Melik Kaylan, writing for Forbes, suggests that Russia’s President Putin is at the helm of a worldwide reaction against globalization: “The multicultural poly-sexual utopia without borders that American-style globalism sells as a matter of...

Democracy’s Messy Process Challenged in the Street

Humphrey Hawksley October 7, 2014
By definition, democracy entails both representative government and majority rule. Factions, minority or majority, who take a disliking to some government policies no longer bide their time, cooperating in the process while waiting for the next election. “The new reality is that tenure in office is set not through an agreed electoral cycle, but by ability to keep protesters off the streets,”...