In The News

Attacks in Denmark, France Stoke Fears of Rising Anti-Semitism in Europe

Beenish Ahmed March 30, 2015
Anti-Semitic crimes are on the rise in Europe for 2015. Anti-Semitism in Europe may have contributed to a rise in emigration to Israel. In 2014, 7,000 Jews left France for Israel. In the same year, immigration to Israel worldwide increased 32 percent from the previous year, reports Beenish Ahmed for ThinkProgress. In February, a Jewish guard was murdered at a Copenhagen synagogue after the murder...

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...

In Latin America, New Urgency to Educate Stirs Up Outdated System

Whitney Eulich and Ruxandra Guidi March 4, 2015
Teach for America is spreading beyond the US border. Enseña por México, Teach for Mexico, is one of various programs in seven Latin American countries that replicate the model by sending recent college graduates into low-income schools. Mexico’s program operates in 65 schools across four states; similar, older programs in Chile and Peru garner praise for improved educational outcomes. Eight Latin...

All It Takes to Cross From Turkey to ISIS-Held Syria Is $25

Sophia Jones March 2, 2015
Once aspiring jihadists reach Turkey, the last stage of crossing into the Islamic State controlled area is simple, with $25 and help from smugglers, explains Sophia Jones for the WorldPost. “Despite Turkey’s insistence that it’s doing all it can to secure the 500-mile-long border, smugglers, fighters and refugees say that Turkish criminal gangs and bribed Turkish paramilitary police have created...

Why the West Is Losing the Battle Against Radical Islam

Azeem Ibrahim February 26, 2015
The West can no longer hold its tongue on fundamentalist religious sects that emphasize piety to the point of counting a few followers worthy while dismissing everyone else in the world. Such is the case with Wahhabism, or Salafism, the state religion in Saudi Arabia that’s exported to other Muslim nations with the help of oil dollars. Azeem Ibrahim, PhD, international security lecturer at the...

Norway Muslims Encircle Synagogue to Support Jews

Kjetil Malkenes Hovland February 25, 2015
A group of young Muslims formed a symbolic ring in front of an Oslo synagogue to protest anti-Semitism, extremism and violence conducted in the name of Islam. The Jewish rabbi expressed gratitude. “Our common God is everywhere in the world, but most of all God is where rings are formed and bridges are built between people,” the rabbi said to the crowd, according to the report by Kjetil Malkenes...

History Without Borders

Peter C. Perdue February 24, 2015
The conflicts of the modern world are deeply rooted in centuries of history. Historians and social scientists could do more to develop research across disciplinary, regional and national boundaries, argues Peter Perdue, professor of history at Yale University. “Everyone knows that we live in a globalized world, but the history profession stands out among academic disciplines for defining its...