Since 1979, the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) program has promoted the study of Chinese language and cultural values at 26 primary and secondary schools. By tracing the history of the program, Shaun Loh makes a case for why the SAP program in its current form is problematic, and argues that it should either be abolished or significantly reformed.

In early April, the Trump administration designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran’s military, as a terrorist organization. The decision was unprecedented. As Trump himself noted, the IRGC designation marked “the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a[n] FTO” (Foreign Terrorist Organization). In […]

Over the last decade, political and legislative bodies have started to codify the relationship between the Internet and human rights. In 2012, the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations adopted a resolution to protect the free speech of individuals on the Internet–the first UN resolution of its kind. In 2014, a UN General […]

In late 2016, most people had never heard of Muhammad bin Salman or Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Both, however, would take control of their respective countries within six months. The shifts of power in Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan represent an abrupt interruption of stable, autocratic regimes. At the outset, there was no reason to expect long-lasting changes […]

Large investment projects are a source of economic and social development for countries. They increase the national income, are a source of employment, stimulate the local economies where they are located, and generate tax revenues for government. However, investment projects can also generate negative impacts on the environment, in the local communities, or in patrimonial […]

A proposal to provide free public access to legal information through a federally managed web portal. You cannot Google the law—the United States has essentially privatized access to much of written law. This privatization has created an infamous industry that drives up legal costs and prevents many citizens from accessing important legal information. We need […]

In 1993, women represented only 1% of all UN uniformed personnel deployed in peacekeeping missions. In 2017, women peacekeepers remained at 4%, far from the UN target of 15%. The role of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs)—not only as a matter of principle, but as a necessary condition for their success—has only become widely accepted […]

A new administration is at the vanguard of African leadership, prioritizing national development in a new model of partnership and possibility Sierra Leone has adopted a new strategy that is reforming its troubled past, piece by piece. Less than a year into his term, President Julius Maada Bio is leading his country in a novel […]

Most statisticians will only ever light up the Twittersphere in their wildest dreams. But for census staff at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), those dreams became a nightmarish reality as the country’s first digital census bombed spectacularly, earning its own hashtag, #censusfail. Every five years, Australians sit down on a designated ‘census night’ and […]

Abstract In the wake of the implementation of smart-city technologies in Latin American cities, this article reviews both their potential for making municipal administration and local service delivery more efficient and the risk they pose, particularly to vulnerable communities. Based on the literature and the international experience on the social and policy effects of algorithmic […]

The U.S. Census is entering the digital age. If you can order groceries online and find the love of your life, why not fill out an online survey that promotes the health of our democracy? Foregoing the traditional paper and pencil mode of data collection makes sense, as it is no longer a sustainable method. […]

The deadly conflict in Tripoli will make it more difficult to find areas of compromise between hardened Libyan factions. However, the alternatives are continued chaos, or weak authoritarian rule under Haftar.