In The News

Slate: Hunger and Obesity Can Be Two Sides of the Same Coin

Eleanor Cummins October 4, 2017
The recent United Nations report on “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017” explains the troubling recent increase in world hunger and obesity rates. Global hunger rates had been steadily declining for decades, but from 2015 to 2016 there was an increase of 40 million people who went hungry. Obesity has doubled since 1980. Each year, an estimated 815 million people go hungry...

The Telegraph: Does the Lack of Gun Controls Put You Off Visiting the US?

Hugh Morris October 3, 2017
Europeans assess the risks of travel to the United States after a shooter orchestrated a siege on a crowded concert in Las Vegas, killing 59 people and injuring more than 500. The Telegraph reports that Las Vegas is the sixth most popular US destination, welcoming more than 3 million foreign visitors each year. Tourism accounts for more than 40 percent of the area’s labor force. “In short, in the...

Project Syndicate: The Dangers of Demographic Denial

Adair Turner October 3, 2017
Too many leaders of emerging economies are counting on sizable numbers of young adults to become consumers and fuel growth. But technological advancements could contribute to high rates of unemployment. The term “demographic dividend” is misunderstood, explains Adair Turner for Project Syndicate. “The term was originally used to describe a transition in which countries enjoyed both a one-off...

The Washington Post: North Korean Ship Seized Off Egypt With Cache of Weapons

Joby Warrick October 2, 2017
A ship bearing the Cambodian flag with a North Korean crew was stopped just before entering the Suez Canal in August. Acting on a tip from US intelligence officials, Egyptian custom agents found more than 30,000 Soviet-style rocket-propelled grenades with removable, non-lethal warheads onboard– the “largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic...

Foreign Affairs: How ISIS Is Transforming

Colin P. Clarke October 1, 2017
The counterterror campaign against the Islamic State since the group’s violent emergence in 2014 has made progress. Yet, “predictions of the group’s ultimate demise are premature,” argues Colin P. Clarke for Foreign Affairs. Ultimately, Clarke argues, analysts witness a transformation “from an insurgent organization with a fixed headquarters to a clandestine terrorist network dispersed throughout...

The Economist: Saudi Arabia Will Finally Allow Women to Drive

September 29, 2017
On September 26 Saudi Arabia announced an end to its longstanding ban on female drivers. As the lone country in the world “to have such a stricture … [the law has become] a symbol of the ultraconservative kingdom’s repression of women.” As the Economist observes, “For many Saudi women, the change is long overdue.” Saudi Arabia adheres to strict interpretations of sharia law and tribal customs....

Al Jazeera: Catalonia Independence Referendum

David Child and Charlotte Mitchell September 28, 2017
Voters in Catalonia have scheduled a referendum to decide if they want to break from Spain and become an independent republic. The region of 7.5 million people accounts for 15 percent of Spain’s population and 20 percent of economic output, report David Child and Charlotte Mitchell for Al Jazeera. “The region, which forms one of Spain's 17 ‘autonomous communities,’ has its own police force...