In The News

Sunday Express: US Midterms and Foreign Policy

November 5, 2018
The world awaits the outcome of the US mid-term elections, which will decide all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 seats in the Senate. If Democrats win either chamber, the president’s policies will face new scrutiny: A “Democratic majority's greatest influence will be oversight, the ability to call hearings and, if necessary, subpoena witnesses, as they chair committees like...

New York Times: Hate Poisons America

October 30, 2018
A ready supply of high-powered guns combined with hateful online rhetoric and brutal attacks on specific communities – the most recent a shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue and bombs mailed to leading Democrats – demonstrate how hatred can consume entire societies. Americans no longer feel safe in their schools, workplaces, places of worship or entertainment. In Pittsburgh, the gunman shouted, “...

New York Times: Trump and Suspect Tax Schemes

David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner October 3, 2018
At first glance, an investigative New York Times report on Donald Trump’s participation in a long list of questionable tax schemes before he was president seems to have little to do with globalization and the world at large. Not so long ago, the United States was regarded, not simply as a superpower but as a moral leader and model for democratic governance including fair taxation. Today the...

NPR: US Announces Withdrawal From UN Human Rights Council

Colin Dwyer June 20, 2018
The US ambassador to the United Nations and the secretary state announced that the country is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council. The diplomats insist withdrawal is not a retreat from human rights commitments and called some of the organization’s endeavors “hypocritical” and “self-serving.” Ambassador Nikki Haley has complained about the Council’s bias against Israel for its treatment...

Spiegel: Time for the EU to Isolate Trump?

Roland Nelles June 19, 2018
European leaders wrestle with how to deal with disruptive US policies. The G7 meeting in Canada reflected the divisions and erosion of US disdain for strongmen’s ways. Writing for Spiegel Online, Roland Nelles describes the brutish approach: disdain for agreements made by predecessors, rejection for the rules of international order or rational arguments, fawning over leaders of Russia and North...

Politico: US Foreign Visas Plunge Under Trump

Nahal Toosi, Ted Hesson and Sarah Frostenson April 16, 2018
The United States is granting visitor visas at a lower rate to applicants from around the world, according to Politico’s analysis of State Department data – a trend suggesting that government officials have adopted President Donald Trump’s hardline attitude toward immigration, legal or otherwise. Due to limited information, the writers could not determine how much of the downward turn is due to...

NBC: Old Law May Stall Trump Bid to Undo Obama Regulations

Suzy Khimm March 6, 2018
US courts are providing checks, balances and brakes on the Trump administration’s agenda to reverse policies of previous presidents. “In recent weeks, federal judges have blocked the administration's attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), postpone a rule giving low-income families broader access to housing in wealthier neighborhoods, and delay an...