In November 2018, Sheryl Sculley retired as San Antonio’s City Manager after 13 years in the position. Her replacement, chosen by San Antonio’s City Council, was Erik Walsh. The story was covered by local news with little fanfare – a 40-year management veteran to be replaced by a 24-year management veteran. But this event […]

After nearly eight years and immense human suffering, the Bashar al-Assad regime is nearing victory in Syria. Aleppo City, Homs, and Rif Damascus—once strongholds of the opposition—have fallen to government forces. President Assad, who in the course of the conflict has employed chemical weapons and indiscriminate violence against Syrians, has now turned his sights on […]

The USWNT doesn’t just deserve equal pay: they deserve higher pay, because they are the team we enjoy watching the most.

In Ghana, President Nana Akufo-Addo’s Integrated Aluminum Industry Plan (the “Plan”) has sparked a contentious debate about how to exploit bauxite – the primary ore used to make aluminum – in a manner that will not jeopardize the country’s sustainable development. The Plan calls for the construction of mines to triple bauxite output, facilities, such […]

Upon her election as chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group in 2016, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared, “C40 member cities are determining the course of our planet’s future.”[1] (C40 is a group of more than 90 cities organized to combat climate change at the municipal level.[2]) Indeed, as societies become increasingly urbanized, the […]

World War II leveled Manila. The war destroyed infrastructure and seriously damaged critical parts of Southeast Asia’s first railway system. In response to the devastation and operators’ failure to address transportation demands, army-surplus trucks were repurposed into “Jeepneys” intended to accommodate 16–24 passengers. Temporary certificates to operate were extended to underfinanced operators so long as […]

An expansion of cashless transactions in Africa would be transformative! Imagine a world where a Burundian could trade easily with a Cape Verdean despite the countries having different currencies and belonging to different economic zones. But, with 1.2 billion people spread across 54 independent countries in one continent, is a cashless Africa achievable? The case […]

Social media has indeed amplified, but still simply carried on, the tradition of American politics that favors appearances over reality.

Though I was born at a time when Iran and Iraq were at war with each other, no conflict has been more formative to my identity than the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Years after Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered his now infamous address at the U.N. accusing Iraq of threatening the post-9/11 world […]

Whether by car, train, foot, wheelchair, bike, or any of the other ways humanity has invented to move through the places we call home, just about everybody relies on transportation systems as part of their daily lives. This is not new and is not likely to change. But if the headlines are to be believed, […]

Thione Niang, Co-founder and Managing Partner of AKON Lighting Africa, sat down with our Partnerships Editor, Katherine Townsend for a conversation during his visit as a speaker at the 2019 MIT Africa Innovate Conference. In addition to his work with AKON Lighting Africa, Thione created the Give 1 Project, which promotes leadership and entrepreneurship through […]

In their first debates on June 26 and 27, twenty candidates made the case for why they should be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. The candidates highlighted a number of tangible and compelling reasons, including their prior records in government, their well-conceived policy solutions, and their electability. But, while pedigree and experience are important predictors […]