Three years ago, Iraqi Shia leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani declared war on ISIS and called for the formation of militias, collectively known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), to defeat the group. Today, the military campaign against ISIS is approaching its conclusion. After the battle of Mosul, it is clear that the Islamic State – as a territorial […]

BY WEN HOE If you visited Kara Tepe on a Saturday night, you might not guess it is a refugee camp. The main hall bursts with music, men and women dance in white pants and colorful robes, and teens tussle in a three-on-three soccer match outside. A cool breeze carries the day’s heat away from […]

Ninety-one percent of Internet users feel they have “lost control” of their personal information, Pew Research Center found in a 2016 poll.[1] The exponential increase in the capacity of firms to collect, store, and analyze data raises significant privacy concerns. But the most significant challenge for policy makers is not the risk that personal data […]

It’s been just over a month since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt decided to sever diplomatic ties, trade links, and transportation corridors with Qatar. Yet now, the quartet of encircling nations seems unsure of how to proceed, despite Kuwait’s emir and diplomatic corps working overtime to mediate the dispute. Instead of […]

BY DAN FISHER The Trump administration is set to send about 4,000 new troops to Afghanistan, and the usual pessimists are coming out of the woodwork. The naysayers argue against what some are referring to as another “surge,” treating the increase as if it were a time warp back to 2010, when the United States […]

BY JOHN SCIANIMANICO David Ricardo, the father of modern-day trade theory, must be rolling in his grave. Ricardo’s doctrine of comparative advantage helps explain how the rise of international trade has benefited countries around the world. Global GDP per capita has exploded, life expectancy has increased, and billions have been lifted out of poverty. In […]

BY MATT MCDOLE The clatter of rocks on limestone brings our conversation to an abrupt halt as we dart for cover along the sides of the narrow street. Under the questionable protection of torn awnings, our group of Harvard graduate students resumes the journey into the heart of the medieval Palestinian City of Hebron. Overhead, nets and metal grates hang down, sagging under the weight of kitchen […]

This piece was published in the 27th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. The forces of gentrification have reached the gates of Chinatowns. Across America, upscale property developments threaten to encroach on venerable ethnic enclaves that happen to sit on very valuable real estate. While Chinatown gentrification in some ways repeats a pattern played […]

With an economy long buoyed by oil, Saudi Arabia is beginning to feel the pinch for the first time in decades. The Saudi economy grew at a meager rate of 1.4% in 2016, as the war effort in Yemen and low global oil prices began to take their toll. This forced the government to raise $9 […]

BY KINGA TSHERING  “Gross National Happiness measures the quality of a country in more holistic way and believes that the beneficial development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occurs side by side to complement and reinforce each other.” His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Fifth King of Bhutan (2006–) Is a […]

This piece was published in the 27th print volume of the Asian American Policy Review. Abstract This paper examines wealth distribution and ethnically structured inequality among Asian American elderly. This paper uses three different datasets—the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and micro-level data from the American Community Survey (ACS)—to […]

BY MATTHEW ERIC SPECTOR President Trump’s recent “technology week” was full of contradictions. Although the administration put on airs to appeal to Silicon Valley, top CEOs, and emerging innovators, the Trump team failed to spell out concrete plans for expanding technological opportunities and closing the growing digital divide. While playing host to executives from Facebook, […]