In The News

The Politics of Memory: Tiananmen at 27

Nick Frisch June 14, 2016
China has transformed since the 1989 crackdown on thousands of protesters in Tiananmen Square who demanded economic, political and social reforms. China’s leaders, initially triumphant about quelling the protests, soon retreated into a disciplined silence, banning public accounts or grieving. “As the years accumulate, the anniversary of the tragedy offers an occasion to wonder if the pursuit of...

Post-Withdrawal Britain: Why the Swiss Model Wouldn't Work for the UK

Christian Teevs June 14, 2016
British voters favoring leaving the European Union suggest that the country’s status could be similar to that of Norway and Switzerland. But the United Kingdom, with a population of 65 million, is not Norway or Switzerland, with 5.5 million and 8.5 million people, respectively. To access the EU market, the British would likely join the European Economic Area, like Norway, and could not escape...

Undocumented, Unafraid: Immigrants Find Power Revealing Themselves Online

Issie Lapowsk June 13, 2016
Children have little choice in a parent’s decision to leave home and work in another country. Once grown, the undocumented immigrants in the United States struggle to attend colleges or find work, yet cannot easily return to their native countries. Caught in the middle, many turn to social media to explain the plight with the help of programs like Define America and Coming Out of the Shadows: “...

Muhammad Ali’s Message: Fight for Your Vision and Change the System

Michael Lerner June 13, 2016
Cassius Marcellus Clay, born in the segregated South of the United States, emerged as a boxing legend in the 1960s. Time and time again, he startled fans and the public at large with athletic prowess, charm and expression of personal beliefs with bravado. He joined the Nation of Islam in 1964, later converting to Sunni Islam: “Muhammad Ali had the courage to say no to Farrakhan and leave the anti...

Mars May Be Banned From Selling M&M’s in Sweden

Oliver Nieburg June 10, 2016
Trademarks, the exclusive right to names and logos, signal consistency for consumers and markets. “A word or a combination of words, letters, and numerals can perfectly constitute a trademark,” explains the World Intellectual Property Organization. “But trademarks may also consist of drawings, symbols, three-dimensional features such as the shape and packaging of goods, non-visible signs such as...

The Rise of Manufacturing Marks the Fall of Globalization

Rebecca Keller June 10, 2016
The many parts of complex machinery are sourced for now from multiple countries. “Over the past century, finished products made in a single country have become increasingly hard to find as globalization – weighted a term as it is – has stretched supply chains to the ends of the Earth,” writes Rebecca Keller for Stratfor. She points out that automation, robotics and computerization will gradually...

Does Europe Need Brexit?

Alan Stoga June 9, 2016
Brexit symbolizes the European Union’s divide and discontent, and yet, “the shock of Britain leaving the Union could be exactly what's needed to jumpstart Europe out of its near catatonic state,” argues Alan Stoga, senior adviser with Kissinger Associates and chairman of the Tällberg Foundation. The continent is divided in multiple ways over politics, migration, debt, as well as labor and...