In The News

Lesson of Rwanda Genocide: Amnesty International

Joan Nyanyuki April 17, 2019
Rwanda’s genocide began in April 1994, triggered by a plane crash carrying then-President Juvenal Habyarimana. Soldiers set up roadblocks, and open calls went out over the radio for neighbors to attack neighbors. “Between the start of the genocide on 7 April 1994 and the end of the massacres in July the same year, around 800,000 people were killed,” explains Joan Nyanyuki of Amnesty International...

Israel and US Politics: New York Times

Nathan Thrall March 31, 2019
Support for strong US-Israel relations crossed party lines from the 1970s to the start of this century. More recently, though, a rift has opened between the two major parties as surveys show that the least pro-Israel demographics – among black, Hispanic, the young and nonreligious voters – represent a larger proportion of the Democratic Party. "Many blacks and Hispanics draw strong parallels...

All The Presidents’ Meals: Foreign Policy

C.K. Hickey March 5, 2019
Since 1933, the White House has hosted 14 administrations and almost 400 state dinners. Culinary trends emerged during the various periods that represented the societal zeitgeist. State dinners were characterized by modesty during the 1930s through the 1950s, gradually transforming into lavish cuisine from the Kennedy administration onward. The changes in taste also reflect sensitivity-driven...

Japanese Whaling: Asia-Pacific Journal

Fynn Holm March 4, 2019
Japan, in withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission, plans to resume commercial whaling in July within the country’s exclusive economic zone, suggesting the country “remains committed” to managing such resources. Whaling has been part of Japan’s culture for four centuries, and the industry became a target of fierce international criticism since 1990. The country will cease a...

Foreign Affairs: The Crisis of Peacekeeping

Séverine Autesserre January 14, 2019
More than 100,000 UN blue-helmeted soldiers and civilians are based in 14 nations as peacekeepers to maintain security. “Peacekeepers set out to protect civilians, train police forces, disarm militias, monitor human rights abuses, organize elections, provide emergency relief, rebuild court systems, inspect prisons, and promote gender equality,” explains Séverine Autesserre for Foreign Affairs....

New Republic: Why Brazilians Elected Bolsonaro

Andre Pagliarini November 15, 2018
Brazilians, in electing Jair Bolsonaro as president, yearn for order and economic prosperity. The military is the country’s most trusted public institution. But Bolsonaro has dismissed human rights and opposed limits on Brazilian police to rely on firepower. He had a troubled record in the military under civilian rule and praised the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985...

Al Jazeera: Russia's Endgame in Syria

Marwan Kabalan July 31, 2018
Analysts can only conjecture what is in store for Syria, Ukraine and other parts of the world where Russia and the United States have an interest. The US and Russian presidents held a private summit and only the translators know what was really said. Syria was discussed. Both countries battled the Islamic State extremists, with Russia and Iran backing the Bashar al Assad regime and the United...