In The News

Huffington Post: Saudi Arabia’s Leader Spent $450 Million on a Painting; Here’s What That Could Do for War Victims in Yemen

Akbar Shahid Ahmed December 22, 2017
Reports suggest that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman spent $450.3 million on a Leonardo da Vinci painting, “Salvator Mundi,” for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. As Akbar Shahid Ahmed reports for the Huffington, the purchase is the highest for an art auction and damages claims by the prince “that he will impose more transparency on the money accumulated by various members of the sprawling...

The Diplomat: How South Asia Is Failing Its Rohingya Challenge

Angel Sharma December 4, 2017
Myanmar’s military operations against the Rohingya people in Rakhine state has driven more than 500,000 refugees to Bangladesh and at least 40,000 each to India and Pakistan. The countries of South Asia are poor and overpopulated and the refugee crisis could destabilize any the countries. Angel Sharma, writing for the Diplomat, urges comprehensive region-wide policies to prevent waves of illegal...

The Wall Street Journal: Strategy for the Post-ISIS Middle East

Suzanne Maloney and Michael O’Hanlon November 8, 2017
As the war against the Islamic State winds down and territory is regained in Syria and Iraq, regional and international leaders ponder the next steps. Many challenges remain: combatting other extremist groups and pinpointing sources of extremism, securing oil shipments through the Persian Gulf waterways, calming conflict among coalition partners like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and ending divisive...

Huffington Post: As Rohingyas Flee Myanmar, India Needs To Drop Religious Criteria in Its Refugee Law

Nafees Ahmad September 26, 2017
Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees are fleeing violence in Myanmar and heading to Bangladesh, with 30,000 people trapped near the border, reports Nafees Ahmad for the Huffington Post. Meanwhile, India’s prime minister has announced plans to deport 40,000 Rohingya refugees, and India’s Supreme Court is reviewing a plea by two asylum seekers to reverse the decision. Conservatives who support...

The Guardian: Facebook Bans Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s Posts

Julia Carrie Wong, Michael Safi and Shaikh Azizur Rahman September 20, 2017
Rohingya Muslims, long marginalized, have few resources to resist the Myanmar military and flee the nation by the thousands. Social media can be a lifeline during such chaos. Yet in the midst of humanitarian crisis, Facebook is retaining the Myanmar military’s page while putting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on its “most dangerous” list, prompting moderators to delete posts that praise the...

Al Jazeera: Nearly 20,000 Rohingya Flee to Bangladesh From Myanmar

August 31, 2017
More than 18,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent days to escape fighting in western Myanmar. The two nations share a border of 270 kilometers; Bangladesh is 90 percent Muslim, and Myanmar is about 90 percent Buddhist and 4 percent Muslim. Bangladesh, already hosting 400,000 Rohingya refugees, tries to block the new waves of refugees. With the Rohingya Muslims denied citizenship rights...

Sydney Morning Herald: UN Convention and “Climate Refugees”

Jane McAdam June 15, 2017
The UN Refugee Convention, drafted after World War II, strives to balance the needs of refugees and governments, but cannot help every displaced person. The world has seen great advances in communications, transportation and security, but a substantially larger global population, increasing inequality, terrorism and environmental degradation are challenges that leave critics claiming the treaty...