BY TAMAR SHAPIRA-COHEN With only 25 minutes to grab lunch, I walked to Clover, a Boston-area vegetarian chain. The menu includes all the top hits of the veggie scene, but something out of the ordinary caught my eyes: Impossible Meatballs. I was curious. I took my chances and bit into my first-ever meatless meatball sandwich. […]

BY CAMERON LINDSAY Last month, 27 of the 28 national European Union ambassadors to Beijing denounced China’s “Silk Road” project as one that hampers free trade and places Chinese companies at an advantage. The sentiments, in response to China’s One Belt Initiative (OBI), strongly contrast the themes of cooperation, openness, and mutual benefits espoused by […]

(Photo Credit: CNN) Prior to the Arab Spring and subsequent government transitions, Egypt was quickly rising through the ranks of developing countries primed for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In fact, it received more FDI than most other African and Arab countries.[1] After decades of deliberate work enacting aid-friendly policies and laws, it was perhaps on […]

Unbeknownst to the average patient, the care we receive from our doctors says relatively little about our overall health. The answer is not found in our genetic makeup, either. The single largest determinant of health, comprising 60% of the puzzle that is a healthy body, is based on social factors. Indeed, our access to stable […]

On January 20, 2018, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) entered the Syrian city of Afrin in what the Turkish government claims is a response to threats posed by Kurdish political groups within Turkey itself, and in northern Syria along the Syrian-Turkish border. Now Ankara must contend with an unclear near-future in which it may remain in Syria for an indefinite period of time.

The problematic economic and social situation in Venezuela is well known to us by now as the topic makes at least a weekly appearance in international media outlets. Beyond the macroeconomic statistics and the high-level policy talk, these numbers and figures really affect the daily life of not only Venezuelan citizens, but also of some […]

At times like this, analysts and critics search for the right phrase to capitalise on their following. So far, watershed, landmark and game changer have been used to describe the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Unsurprisingly, the majority of Africans whom this agreement affects, are unaware of the radical facelift the continent is about […]

BY ANGELICA QUICKSEY and EMILY BROAS An internet connection is a gateway to the modern world: communication, education, economic opportunity, entertainment, and more. Yet, 19 percent of U.S. households lack a home broadband subscription and are excluded from these benefits. The digital divide – the gulf between those who have ready access to the internet […]

ISIL violated international, national, regional and tribal law when it recruited children to participate in its armed conflict.  With ISIL’s loss of territory in Iraq, the rush to enact justice against perpetrators of these abuses has overlooked the status of children and the need to tailor treatment specifically to child soldiers who survived a brutal occupation.

Standards for aid provision in humanitarian relief contexts have long overlooked directly engaging with aid recipients. Organizations which buck the trend and consider refugees’ input have found it greatly beneficial in identifying aid gaps. Working directly with aid recipients to address their needs also renders aid more respectful and culturally sensitive, restoring a sense of agency to people who depend on humanitarian aid.

BY AYNA AGARWAL About three years ago, a little-known researcher named Aleksandr Kogan began a social science experiment at Cambridge University. Nothing unusual here. But just a few years later, he became embroiled in a Silicon Valley scandal of epic proportions. Over 80 million raw profiles of users—including their friends, activity, and private information—were scraped […]

BY JACK PEAD Last year wasn’t great for the climate. We saw the potential for rising ocean temperatures to turn the Atlantic into an increasingly violent hurricane-producing system. The average global concentration of CO2 permanently surpassed 400 parts per million, making something of a mockery of 350.org, an advocacy organization set up to try to […]