In The News

Arms and Men: Technology’s Shadow Over Democracy

John Ferejohn and Frances Rosenbluth December 9, 2014
The nomination of Ashton Carter, a physics instructor and researcher, as the US Secretary of Defense offers a reminder how modern war increasingly relies on technology rather than collective human strength. The new form of warfare launched against Iraq was described by a previous president as “shock and awe.” In the United States, massive troop mobilization for a national causee and the...

The Biggest Loser in US Election Is the Climate

Brad Plumer November 17, 2014
The earth can anticipate food shortages, more severe weather and irreversible damage to the planet unless immediate action is taken to reduce carbon emissions, suggests a UN report. Days later, US voters placed Republicans in charge of both branches of the US Congress. “Global warming remains a low-priority issue in American politics — in a Pew poll, it ranked a lowly 8th (out of 11) on the list...

EU Politics Could Look to Multiethnic India for Strategies

Pallavi Aiyar November 11, 2014
Visions of a united Europe are under strain as anti-EU parties have made political gains in France, Sweden, the UK and other nations. Although the European Union is often thought of as a “United States of Europe,” journalist Pallavi Aiyar argues that the EU more resembles chaotic India. “India, like the European Union, is the antithesis of the 19th-century European conception of the ‘nation state...

Chinese Submarine Docking in Sri Lanka “Inimical” to India’s Interests: Government

Sachin Parashar November 10, 2014
Sri Lanka has allowed a Chinese submarine to dock at its Colombo port days after the visit of Vietnam’s prime minister to India. This follows another Chinese submarine docking in Sri Lanka in September, reports Sachin Parashar for the Times of India. India views the docking as a violation of a 1987 agreement declaring that “ports in Sri Lanka will not be made available for military use by any...

What If Britain Left the EU?

Michael White, Larry Elliott and Charlotte Higgins November 7, 2014
If the United Kingdom left the European Union, the country would face additional political and social problems including internal divisions and popular disillusionment. The move would also destabilize the EU overall, aggravating tensions between France and Germany and generating pessimism that could recreate the power-feuding Europe of the early-20th century. Some politicians in Britain use EU...

Dueling Elections in Ukraine Test EU-Russian Ties

Chris Miller November 4, 2014
Two sets of elections expose a deep divide among Ukrainian citizens over support for closer ties with the European Union versus traditional reliance on Russia: With a reported 60 percent turnout, the October 26 parliamentary elections gave the president and prime minister a majority that will allow them to pursue economic and political reforms and forge closer ties with Europe. Elections in...

China’s Tianxia: Do All Under Heaven Need One Arbiter?

June Teufel Dreyer October 30, 2014
Some Chinese scholars point to the 5th century BC as possible model that “under a virtuous China one could return to the golden age,” explains political science professor June Teufel Dreyer in her excerpt from a longer paper to be published by The Journal of Contemporary China. As suggested by Confucius, “To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue …...