In The News

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...

New York Times: Nationalism Reshapes Europe

Peter Baker and Alissa J. Rubin November 13, 2018
World leaders gathered to commemorate World War I’s end a century ago, and “a ceremony meant to celebrate the ties that bind the world today in effect showcased the divisions that are pulling it apart,” explain Peter Baker and Alissa Rubin for the New York Times. The global order and US alliances are under strain, even as the world’s most pressing problems require global cooperation. “Patriotism...

The Atlantic: Education Divides the US

Adam Harris November 7, 2018
Political divisions that linger over decades are difficult to resolve quickly. Adam Harris, writing for the Atlantic, points to an emerging divide among US white voters: 61 percent of those without college educations select Republicans and 53 percent with college educations select Democrats. About 50 years ago, college degrees were less common, more often held by Republicans. The civil rights...

Reuters: The EU and Merkel's Departure

Alastair Macdonald November 1, 2018
Angela Merkel is stepping down as her party’s leader and said her fourth term as German chancellor is her last. Some analysts anticipate “prolonged paralysis and a Germany less inclined to share its wealth and locked in confrontation with its neighbours” and others hope for a stronger coalition supporting integration, explains Alastair Macdonald for Reuters. The next leader for the Christian...

The Economist: El Salvador’s Óscar Romero Canonized

October 31, 2018
After 40 years, the Vatican canonized El Salvador’s Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero as a saint, and the Economist describes this as a “controversial” choice: “Often seen as ideologically left wing, he was above all a martyr for his faith and his church.” In the 1970s, El Salvador’s long-ruling coffee oligarchy and army were confronted by left-wing trade unions and peasant groups, with aid from...

New York Times: Hate Poisons America

October 30, 2018
A ready supply of high-powered guns combined with hateful online rhetoric and brutal attacks on specific communities – the most recent a shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue and bombs mailed to leading Democrats – demonstrate how hatred can consume entire societies. Americans no longer feel safe in their schools, workplaces, places of worship or entertainment. In Pittsburgh, the gunman shouted, “...

Washington Post: Bomb Targets and Trump’s Words

Philip Rucker October 25, 2018
Nationalism is defined by Oxford Living Dictionaries as “Identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.” The extreme ideology regarding any criticism as threat is especially dangerous when so many challenges are global in scope. Yet Donald Trump proudly proclaims his stance as nationalist and...