In The News

The Failure of Free Migration

Robert Skidelsky July 20, 2016
One immigrant’s brutal crime – using a truck to kill 84 people and injure hundreds during Bastille Day festivities in Nice, France – heightens mistrust for all immigrants and boosts support for a swift crackdown. “Throughout the Western world, a toxic mix of physical, economic, and cultural insecurity has been fueling anti-immigration sentiment and politics precisely at the moment when the...

Want Better Cities?

Liz Stinson July 8, 2016
As the global population swelled, people have gravitated to cities. More than half the world’s population now lives in cities, compared to 3 percent in 1800, according to the United Nations. Researchers at Yale and University of Canterbury have plotted 6000 years of urbanization history in an online database with details on size of cities as well as how, when and where they emerged, reports Liz...

The Great Escape

Robert Winder June 22, 2016
In much of Europe, people are a short ride from another country, and the Schengen Agreement, formed in 1985, allows free travel for citizens of 26 nations with “significant effect not just on daily life but on tourism, trade and commerce,” explains Robert Winder for New Statesman. “Those who designed it to liberate movement in Europe did not imagine international migration on today’s scale....

Brexit and the Future of US-UK Military Cooperation

Stephen Meyer June 19, 2016
Analysts have long debated the feasibility of the European Union moving beyond an economic partnership with tighter integration in other areas, including foreign policy. The United Kingdom’s decision to remain or leave the European Union would signal a direction for the nation’s future military relationships. “If the British vote down the Brexit referendum later next week and choose to remain in...

The Great Wall of Sand

Jonathan Fenby May 20, 2016
The United States challenges China’s broad claims to the South China Sea and the buildup of small islands claimed by other nations. Each country dispatches military vessels to the area, and exchanges between crews could be cast as friendly or taunting. “The friendly conversation obscured a chilling fact: that these were crews of ships from two nations which, in some scenarios, are heading for an...

Philippines’ Next President: Implications for ASEAN

Mely Caballero-Anthony May 11, 2016
Voters in the Philippines fell in line with global trends of frustration over bureaucratic processes, by selecting a maverick leader who promises to shake up government, end corruption and bring rapid improvement. Rodrigo Duterte was elected president. “Standing on a platform of eradicating crime and corruption that have plagued the country, Duterte has shocked his countrymen’s sensibilities with...

The United States: Divided in More Ways Than One

Bruce Stokes May 5, 2016
The United States is polarized and so are members of its major political parties, especially on foreign policy. Results of a Pew Research Study released today suggest that isolationist tendencies are tempered by recognition for the practical need for international engagement. “Wariness of international engagement coexists with unilateralist assertiveness on some issues and a belief that the...