In The News

BBC News: Why Only 1% of the World’s Vanilla Is Real

Nancy Kacungira August 20, 2018
The island of Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla beans. Farmers protect their crops with patrols and mark individual pods while on the vine. The vanilla orchid, a native plant of Mexico, can grow 300 feet tall, but there are challenges: The orchid requires high humidity, shade and moderate temperatures and new plants produce pods after three years. Each flower must be...

Lawfare: RIP Federal Common Law of Foreign Relations?

Ingrid Wuerth August 19, 2018
Common law is developed by precedents rather than specific statutes. Ingrid Wuerth notes for Lawfare that the federal common law of foreign relations is a shrinking field with court interpretations undergoing revisions over the years. “The field was built in part on the claim that customary international law is federal common law and in part on the claim that federal judges should displace state...

Stratfor: War on Drugs – A Conflict as Old as Humanity

Ian Morris August 17, 2018
Drug addiction as a security issue threatens workplaces, communities and individual health. Archeologists have found evidence of societies throughout history embracing and battling certain drugs, explains Ian Morris. Ancient Peruvians used cacti for mescaline and Ice Age cave painters may have used hallucinogens. “When Greek traders started showing up in the West Mediterranean, only one thing...

Spiegel: Syria's Uncertain Future

Christoph Reuter, Fritz Schaap and Christian Werner August 16, 2018
Syria’s civil war is winding down with Bashar al-Assad still in power. The country is devastated with more than 400,000 people dead and more than 11 million displaced. One estimate of the war’s damages is $250 billion, and the economic losses could be much higher. Assad, a dictator, and his supporters, a minority, regard the rebels who initially tried peaceful protests as terrorists, and the fate...

New York Times: Trump’s Claims of No Collusion

John O. Brennan August 16, 2018
The US president whose campaign is under a special counsel investigation for Russian interference took steps to withdraw the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan. “Before, during and after its now infamous meddling in our last presidential election, Russia practiced the art of shaping political events abroad through its well-honed active measures program, which employs an array...

Wired: Kenya’s Silicon Savannah

Laura Mallonee August 15, 2018
Nairobi is home to more than 200 startups as well as established firms like Intel and Microsoft, reports Laura Mallonee for Wired. Photographs by Janek Stroisch show young adults at work alone on computers and with teams surrounded by gadgets, wires and equipment, all reminiscent of scenes from Silicon Valley in California. Mallonee notes the “the problems are a little different,” describing...

New Zealand Herald: New Zealand Bans Home Sales for Many Foreigners

New Zealand Herald August 15, 2018
New Zealand’s Parliament passed a law prohibiting most non-resident foreigners from purchasing existing homes, with exceptions for those from Australia and possibly Singapore due to trade agreements. Supporters hope to reduce rising home prices and homelessness, but Mike Hosking, writing for the New Zealand Herald, calls it one of the government’s biggest mistakes due to a misunderstanding of...