In The News

Could Civilization Collapse? BBC

Luke Kemp February 21, 2019
Internal challenges and divisions are more treacherous for civilizations than external attacks, suggests historian Arnold Toynbee who studied 28 civilizations. Overexpansion, environmental degradation and poor leadership helped ruin the Roman Empire. “Collapse is often quick and greatness provides no immunity,” explains researcher Luke Kemp. Greater size is not a protection, and Kemp describes...

Impending US Pullout: Times of India

Nayan Chanda February 20, 2019
The United States invaded Afghanistan soon after the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, DC. After more than 17 years of war, Donald Trump signals that the war’s end is near. The “timing appears to be based on electoral calculations rather than the security situation on the ground, but New Delhi need not panic,” explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s founding editor, in his column for...

Europe Reluctant to Take Back ISIS Fighters: NPR

Vanessa Romo February 20, 2019
The Islamic State recruited young men and women from around the world with propaganda, promising a caliphate, devout surroundings, marriage and adventure. Syria, the United States, Russia and the Kurds, Turkey and Iran worked separately to defeat the brutal terrorist group. Now, disillusioned and defiant ISIS members hope to return to their homes, reports NPR. Some express less remorse than...

Putin vs. US Intelligence: Daily Beast

February 19, 2019
The US budget devotes more than $80 billion on intelligence-gathering, representing more than 10 percent of the US defense budget, with many expenditures and details classified. Yet the US president has suggested that he does not hold much stock in US intelligence assessments. Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe offered a new example as shared by a colleague, during an interview on the...

US-China Trade Deal Not Enough: Project Syndicate

Minxin Pei February 18, 2019
If the US and China fail to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement, bilateral trade, the economic relationship will erode as tariffs of up to 25 percent are applied on $200 billion of Chinese exports to the US, thus encouraging relocation of business activity out of China. Even if the two nations resolve differences over China’s state-owned enterprises and subsidies, the relationship could...

Europe and Nuclear Power Plays: Spiegel

Markus Becker, Christian Esch, Matthias Gebauer, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Christiane Hoffmann, Peter Müller, Jan Puhl, Christoph Schult, Klaus Wiegrefe and Bernhard Zand February 11, 2019
The United States has started the process of withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The treaty led to destruction of thousands of missiles and rockets with ranges between 500 and 5,000 kilometers, but the US and Russia eventually accused each other of violations. More than 10 nations, including China, now have midrange rockets. This Spiegel Online article suggests...

Warning on Mining Dam Disasters: BBC

David Shukman February 7, 2019
Companies mining for coal, copper and iron ore remove tons of material during the excavation process – only a small amount is valuable ore and the rest is rock and material contaminated with chemicals and other mining waste. “And the cheapest way to dispose of these remains is to create what's called a ‘tailings pond’ – a rather genteel term for a dumping-ground sealed with a dam,” explains...