In The News

Financial Times: Brexiters Must Lose if Brexit Is to Succeed

Martin Wolf March 30, 2017
The British government officially notified the EU of its intention to leave – an admission that a prominent and pragmatic member could not influence the larger governing structure or find agreement with other European members. The decision is a tragedy for both sides “Even if the exit negotiations go well,” explains Martin Wolf for the Financial Times. “Economically, [the UK] will lose favourable...

Foreign Affairs: The Vatican and China Reach a Promising Accord

Victor Gaetan March 30, 2017
In February, the Bishop of Hong Kong announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis have negotiated a compromise in the selection of Chinese bishops, a critical religious disagreement that has festered since the 1950s. Although Chinese state and religious authorities will “recommend episcopal candidates,” the pope has veto power and hence “final authority,” reports Victor Gaetan for...

Foreign Policy: Erdoğan’s International Network of Muslim Cleric Spies

Paul Hockenos March 29, 2017
A diplomatic incident involving Germany and the Netherlands on one side and Turkey on the other revealed deep fault lines between Turkish immigrants and the nations where they reside. Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, wanted to campaign in the two countries for a constitutional referendum transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system into a...

CNBC: The Costs of Dumping Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Jason Bordoff March 29, 2017
Despite polarization among US lawmakers, the president can accomplish much with executive orders. Donald Trump is dismantling his predecessor’s climate legacy, explains Jason Bordoff, a professor and founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Orders announced today “direct agencies to rewrite regulation...

Reuters: US, Britain, France, Others Skip Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Talks

Michelle Nichols March 28, 2017
About 40 countries are declining to join UN talks for a nuclear weapons ban treaty and remain committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in force since 1970. A French ambassador argued that global security conditions are not right for such a ban, and the US ambassador to the UN questioned if anyone believed that rogue nations like North Korea would agree to such a ban. “The Trump administration...

Resurgent Russia Joins Great Game in South Asia

Harsh V Pant March 28, 2017
With joint military exercises, weapons sales and multilateral conferences, Russia is reclaiming a role as a key powerhouse in Central and South Asia that it held during the Cold War. With a more isolationist administration in Washington, Moscow is also joining with China to fill a power vacuum in South Asia. “In recent years India has grown concerned about Russia’s growing closeness to China and...

The Atlantic: Would-Be Coalition of Christian Traditionalists

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Brittany Pheiffer Noble March 28, 2017
Supporters of secularism criticize government leaders who prioritize personal religious beliefs over government policies. In 2014, Steve Bannon, now chief strategist in the White House, urged cross-border religious partnerships in opposing Islamic extremism. Religious traditionalists also join forces to battle for other causes including opposition to marriage equality or women’s reproductive...