In The News

Saudi Arabia Signals a More Muscular Foreign Policy Less Reliant on the US

Alexandra Zavis April 27, 2015
Saudi Arabia’s new leadership under King Salman has ramped up involvement in regional conflicts. With Operation Decisive Storm, the Saudis have launched airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen – a response to decreased US mobilization in the Middle East and a way to counter Iran’s expanding influence in the region. The lack of US support for Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring and...

Can Authoritarian Capitalism Outlive Lee Kuan Yew?

John Cassidy April 6, 2015
From 1959 to 1990, Lee Kuan Yew guided Singapore’s remarkable rise to an Asian economic powerhouse. The Singaporean prime minister trail-blazed the creation of an “authoritarian capitalist” model of economic development, soon followed by China. The model was built on western ideas favored by Lee including meritocracy, universal public education, and emphasis on science and technology.. But the...

Nigeria: Buhari’s Victory in Nigerian Election Has Global Significance

Richard Joseph April 1, 2015
Nigeria experienced its first peaceful and democratic transfer of power to an opposition candidates with the victory of Muhammadu Buhari. Voters and global onlookers expect a hard stance on corruption, terrorism and poverty. “Inexplicably, Africa's largest armed force, which has been given enormous financial outlays, has not been able to subdue a ragtag militia,” writes Richard Joseph in an...

Japan Can’t Close Door on Immigrants

Kwan Weng Kin March 25, 2015
Japan’s looming demographic crisis is well known and widespread prejudices against immigrants may cripple the country’s ability to address the problem. Japan’s population could decline by a third over the next 50 years, and observers view immigration as the only viable solution to labor shortages in the Japanese economy. At present, foreigners constitute 1.6 percent of Japan’s population, and...

For Asian Americans, A Changing Landscape on College Admissions

Frank Shyong March 24, 2015
Asian American families spend the most on education per capita in the United States, yet many report challenges with admission to prestigious US colleges owing to official and informal diversity policies. A 2005 Princeton study suggested that Asian applicants would be the big winners if race was no longer considered in admissions. College officials counter that a diverse campus offers many...

Battery Powered: The Promise of Energy Storage

Steve LeVine March 18, 2015
Fortunes in the energy industry can shift overnight, with prices, alternative sources and progress in technology. Improving batteries’ capability to store energy would galvanize the renewables industry. “The key to unlocking renewables’ potential is thus stationary energy storage, batteries that would allow consumers to draw on electricity generated at an earlier time,” writes Steve LeVine,...

Divided Europe Mired in Crises

Chris Miller March 17, 2015
For a few short decades, Europe was viewed as a model for human rights and economic security. Many Europeans were eager for the continent to become an influential geopolitical actor, acting independently of the United States, notes Chris Miller, a Yale doctoral candidate and research associate at the Hoover Institution. But polarization within the Union and the institutional failure to address a...