BY JEAN-BAPTISTE LE MAROIS Most climate change awareness campaigns feature stranded polar bears on drifting ice sheets, or sea levels creeping over the island of Manhattan. But are these strategies convincing? The “protect the planet” approach has proven to be too weak of a public narrative to mobilize voters. Instead, imagine opening the newspaper to […]

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 […]

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 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, […]

He may be a political insider, but Hassan Rouhani ran his 2017 presidential campaign as an anti-establishment candidate. More than 40 million Iranians voted, and despite the close election President Rouhani won a second term in May with 57% of the votes. When the election results were announced, thousands of people spilled into the streets dancing, singing, […]

Millions of people in the Middle East and elsewhere were forced to flee their homes in recent years. What they need most now is dignity.