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“Until very recently Singapore’s past was a matter of supreme indifference for most Singaporeans simply because they believed this island never really had a history worth remembering…” – S. Rajaratnam, ‘The Uses and Abuses of the Past’, 1984. A quick Google search for “slavery in Singapore” returns references to “Modern-day Slavery”, as many have termed […]

In Spring 2016, JMEPP Guest Interviewer Federica du Pasquier of the Center for Middle East Studies at Harvard interviewed Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) during his visit to the Middle East Initiative at Harvard’s Belfer Center. Below is an excerpt from the […]

BY JEN SMITH Over the weekend, the Panama Papers were top news from Argentina to Zimbabwe. They have dominated the coverage in The Guardian and Financial Times, two British papers. By contrast, the New York Times placed the story on page 3; the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal were similarly quiet. With more than […]

This week’s ouster of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) forces from the Syrian city of Palmyra sparked cautious optimism from some observers. Aside from the destruction of the city’s ancient ruins, Palmyra appeared less damaged than had been originally feared after its takeover by the Islamic State. Yet under the surface of this reclaimed land lies […]

During the Iran-Iraq War, which was set off with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980 and which ended in 1988, sectarian ideology was used profusely, both as a tool for propaganda and to help both nations in strengthening their positions. The Sunni versus Shia framework was used as the pretext by Saddam Hussein for Iraq’s […]

BY MICHAEL GOOD How does one measure urban revitalization? For the Kresge Foundation in midtown Detroit, it is the sound of hammers clanking on steel beams as formerly empty lots surrounding its offices finally undergo construction. It’s bulldozers and work crews tearing up Woodward Avenue to install tracks for the new M-1 line, a light […]

  After meeting five Syrian and Palestinian refugees trying to make their way from Milan to Sweden in the quest for asylum, an Italian journalist and a Palestinian poet decide to help them by faking a wedding. After all, “what border policeman would ever stop a bride to check her documents?[1]” As part of this […]

BY ANDREA SORCE If you’re from North Carolina like me, your social media feeds blew up last Wednesday afternoon. #wearenotthis. “We” being North Carolinians. “This” being HB2, the sweeping anti-LGBT legislation passed last Wednesday in a specially-convened session. HB2 prohibits transgender residents from using restrooms that match their gender identity and also nullifies municipal anti-discrimination […]

Earlier this year, President Obama’s final State of the Union address discussed early childhood education, high school graduation rates, and community college access. But President Obama skirted a larger issue: poor academic preparation at the K-12 level is a root cause of a lack of people of color in higher education and in the fields […]

Our education system has served us well thus far. Presentation skills, deal-making skills, teamwork skills and the like are key components of our education system. Our vocational training is also up to par. So to many Singaporeans, and to the world at large, there seems to be no immediate pressing issue with our system. Singaporean […]

BY JEN SMITH “Mom: home safe. sleepy. love you.” I sent this message letting her know I made it home to Cambridge safely after spending ten days in Israel, learning about nations torn by generational conflict.  During my time there, we visited the Syrian border, went to the edge of the Gaza Strip, and talked […]

BY JASMINE CHIA, YAN MIN AUNG, AND KARENG BRANG SHAWNG Myanmar has suffered one of the world’s longest running civil wars, one rooted in ethnic conflict. The fighting continues to the present day: the Arakan Army is still launching insurgent attacks in Rakhine state, a state on Myanmar’s western coast, and the Kachin Independence Army, […]