In The News

Financial Times: Ideological Purge for China Universities

Emily Feng April 25, 2017
Societies invest in education for jobs, innovations, creativity and prosperity. Western universities, a tremendous source of soft power, attract students from around the world. Recognizing the value of cross-border learning, universities in China organized joint programs with foreign institutions. But the strongest education programs engage in critical thinking and that challenges ideology. China...

The Atlantic: All the President's Flip-Flops

David A. Graham April 13, 2017
The US president, in office for less than 100 days, has reversed course on multiple campaign promises, as listed by David Graham for the Atlantic. The “most visible reversal” is on Syria – with Donald Trump rejecting foreign intervention in Syria, even after a 2013 chemical attack, before the election and as president ordering missile attacks. Trump’s praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin...

Spiegel Online: Alexei Navalny Shakes Up a Slumbering Russia

Christian Esch April 5, 2017
Russia’s young are no longer staying quiet about the country’s corruption. “A singular wave of protests hit 82 cities across the land on Sunday, March 26, from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, as people took to the streets to protest corruption,” reports Christian Esch for Spiegel Online. He goes on to describe angry confrontations between police and crowds. The Russian legal system is harsh on...

Foreign Policy: Erdoğan’s International Network of Muslim Cleric Spies

Paul Hockenos March 29, 2017
A diplomatic incident involving Germany and the Netherlands on one side and Turkey on the other revealed deep fault lines between Turkish immigrants and the nations where they reside. Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, wanted to campaign in the two countries for a constitutional referendum transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system into a...

The Atlantic: Would-Be Coalition of Christian Traditionalists

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Brittany Pheiffer Noble March 28, 2017
Supporters of secularism criticize government leaders who prioritize personal religious beliefs over government policies. In 2014, Steve Bannon, now chief strategist in the White House, urged cross-border religious partnerships in opposing Islamic extremism. Religious traditionalists also join forces to battle for other causes including opposition to marriage equality or women’s reproductive...

The Wall Street Journal: A President’s Credibility

March 23, 2017
Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked with a series of claims, including a suggestion that British intelligence officials assisted former President Barack Obama in spying on Trump Tower. A Wall Street Journal editorial describes “the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other...

Spiegel Online: Dutch Election Slows Europe's Populists

Claus Hecking March 21, 2017
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his center-right political party, the VVD, won the Dutch general election. Rutte has held the position since 2010, but faced a strong challenge from the far-right populist Geert Wilders. Wilders’ calls for nationalist policies and a “Nexit” from the European Union were at odds with the Netherlands’ global position as a leading exporter, Claus Hecking posits for...