In The News

Syria Crisis: Russia “Sends Sophisticated Weapons”

May 20, 2013
Russia has delivered highly advanced anti-ship missiles to Syria, reports the New York Times. The BBC News points out that the news arrived the same day as a UN report said the number of refugees from Syria had passed 1.5 million mark. Following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cautioned against a loss of momentum for holding a peace...

Changing American Perceptions of US Adversaries, One Dish at a Time

Heather Maher May 16, 2013
Appreciation for delicious cuisine connects individuals and can put conflicts on the back burner. Since 2010 Conflict Kitchen in Pittsburgh has served the dishes of countries at odds with the United States, including Afghanistan, Iran and Cuba. The motivation for co-founders, one of whom is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art, was to diversify to the city’s ethnic food...

America's First Climate Refugees

Suzanne Goldenberg May 14, 2013
Americans, particularly those in oil-rich and Republican-dominated states like Alaska, are very sensitive about any foreign threat to their way of life. Yet outrage wanes about the pressing need to address climate change even as Americans already lose homes to extreme weather. A series in the Guardian newspaper based in London focuses on climate change, including a warning from economist...

How to End the Forever War

Harold Hongju Koh May 14, 2013
Ending a war can be more time-consuming and challenging than starting one, especially the so-called global war on terror that has defied conventional notions. Harold Hongju Koh, professor of law and former dean of Yale Law School, describes how the war on terror transformed into endless war in this YaleGlobal essay based on a speech delivered in May at the Oxford Union. Koh refutes common...

Could Syria Conflict Become Regional War?

Jonathan Marcus May 13, 2013
Conflict raging in Syria – and increasing numbers of weapons entering the nation – could spread to Lebanon and other nearby states, reports Jonathan Marcus for the BBC News, adding that “a crisis that began as a popular upheaval in Syria could degenerate into a bitter regional war.” Sunnis fight against minority rule in Syria, and the Shia-supported Syrian regime resists with help from Hezbollah...

Pilotless Planes, Pacific Tensions

Richard Parker May 13, 2013
The Navy is launching an autonomous combat drone, which may add to tensions between the United States and China, suggests journalist and author Richard Parker in an opinion essay for the New York Times. The US drone technology can withstand radiation that would kill human pilots and can carry microwave technology that could ruin power grids and computer networks. China has invested more than $100...

To Arm or Not to Arm? That Is Obama’s Question

Zvi Bar’el May 7, 2013
Weapons last longer than alliances, and the Obama administration is highly cautious about arming even a small segment of Syria’s rebels. It’s happened time and time again that weapons quickly change hands and are used against the original providers. The chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army is pleading for US assistance while trying to build coalitions among fragmented forces resisting the Assad...