In the News

Professor Emily Oster comments on what the future could look like if robots took over housework. "More automation could mean more equality, although I think it's a little complicated whether it will change the inequality as opposed to just the amount."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the federal lawsuit that the House Democrats filed against the Treasury Department demanding President Trump's tax returns. "Clearly, the House leadership is being very cautious. This is understandable given the stakes. I don't believe urgency is lacking. It's just that democratic and legal process can be slow."

Emily Oster in The Atlantic, "At this point, if you're pregnant and a marijuana user and you're wondering what to do, my answer is: Don't freak out; do think seriously about quitting."

Wendy Schiller, Chair of the Political Science department, comments on Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo reluctance to sign the $10 billion state budget, saying "First of all, she wants Rhode Island to look to the outside world like it's running well."

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan joined Ian Masters to discuss the three camps in U.S. foreign policy.

Economist Emily Oster joined KQED to help cut through all of the advice soon-to-be and new parents receive.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "In one of the most remarkable partnerships in modern American political history, Soros and Charles Koch...are joining to finance a new foreign-policy think tank in Washington."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney comments on the University Grants Commission's concern of the quality of PhD research in India, saying "Unlike universities in the US and, to some extent, the UK, Indian universities have been dominated by political theorists, who frown upon empirical research."

James Green, director of the Brazil Initiative, comments on the first Pride parade in Brazil following right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro's election. "The parade is really a moment of affirmation and celebration for most people, but it is de facto, in my mind, a confrontation with the policies of Bolsonaro."

The Pentagon has managed to shrink its carbon footprint in recent years, but it is still massive. Researchers from the Costs of War Project estimate it is responsible for producing more than 59 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2017.

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony on July 17, saying "The Congressional minority should have insisted on public hearings two years ago."

In an op-ed by 2020 presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, research by the Costs of War Project is cited. "The war on terror has also been staggeringly wasteful. According to the most recent study by the Costs of War Project at Brown University, it will have cost American taxpayers more than $4.9 trillion through the end of this fiscal year."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "We too have trouble realizing that our problems in the world have causes. To understand the desperation driving Guatemalan and Honduran migrants, it helps to recognize our own role in creating it."

Our new expansion building, Stephen Robert '62 Hall, is highlighted. Ed Steinfeld, Director of the Institute, shared "We had a vision for what it would take to be a state-of-the-art institute for international and public affairs. That vision has been translated into a functionally fantastic and aesthetically appealing facility."

In an interview, Professor Ashutosh Varshney discusses India's national elections and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory. "As prime minister, Modi styled himself as 'the watchman of the country.'"

This is a Q&A on race and freedom of speech on college campuses with Glenn Loury, a professor of social sciences.

A new study from the Costs of War project shows that the U.S. military emits more greenhouse gases each year than many countries, including Sweden and Portugal.

This column by Professor of Economics Emily Oster examines "unfunded parenting mandates," or parenting decrees that require an unreasonable amount of time and effort to undertake.

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Neta C. Crawford, Co-Director of the Costs of War Project, describes new research in The Conversation, "I agree with the military and national security experts who contend that climate change should be front and center in U.S. national security debates."

Senior Fellow Richard Boucher in The Hill, "If we can wire the world our way, China will have to negotiate to fit in. Dividing the world into the U.S. sphere and the Chinese sphere leaves us as isolated as them."

Jeff Colgan in The Washington Post, "Given the huge U.S. network of overseas military bases, the Department of Defense has traditionally seen the issue of environmental liability as a slippery slope, and takes a hard line against assuming responsibility."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer sat down with the Brown Political Review for an interview, saying "My training is not from being a scholar, but rather from being out in the world and working as a journalist."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the possibility of Democrats getting President Trump's tax returns, saying "...once you move into 2020 and begin to approach the election, the potential is there that Trump could just run out the clock."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg recently joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss impeachment, the Senate, and the filibuster.

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan is mentioned in an article on national oil companies. "Jeff Colgan, a prominent scholar on the topic, has found that oil is a leading cause of war and can exacerbate conflict in multiple ways."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "For most of the 20th century, the United States was strong enough to keep allies in line and rivals at bay. Today, however, other countries are not so easily intimidated. Many have lost confidence in the US."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on whether House Democrats will subpoena Special Coounsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress, saying "I don't think the public understanding of the Mueller report ever recovered from Barr rolling out his summary, and then leaving it unchallenged for over a month."

Economist John Friedman comments on the plans Democratic presidential hopefuls have for education, saying "There's definitely been a turn against a set of ideas in education that we've been championing as effective."

Chair of the Political Science department, Wendy Schiller, comments on President Trump's abundance of supporters willing to repeat and endorse all of his claims. "The Republican establishment will push back through Fox, the Wall Street Journal and other outlets. The titans of the economy will put up with stuff only so long."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express, "One could suggest that the election verdict was about the electorate's comparative assessment of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi as leaders, and people chose Modi over Rahul."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg joined Skullduggery's Buried Treasure podcast to discuss the Iran-Contra affair and the differences in how Congress operated back then compared to the current presidential administration today.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "It has little to do with Iran's behavior, which is no more provocative today than it was a year or a decade ago. Instead it is the product of fevered tempers in Washington."

On Thursday, May 23, as thousands of Brown University alumni and family members began to descend on College Hill to celebrate Commencement and Reunion Weekend, University leaders and community members gathered to dedicate Stephen Robert '62 P'91 Hall, among the newest additions to Brown's campus.

Emily Oster in The New York Times, "The differences we see by demographic groups in the United States — the inequality of outcomes for children from poor and rich backgrounds — are driven by a combination of vast differences in experiences."

Economist Emily Oster in The Atlantic, "Put simply, mothers and fathers ought to come clean about the nature of their lives. We can't fix problems that we pretend don't exist; we can't improve the lot of parents at work if we pretend we aren't parents."

Anthropologist Sarah Besky comments on the wages and management of tea gardens, explaining "that ideally the houses required to be built and maintained by the plantation management - something that rarely, if ever, happens. Whether it is painting the house, or just growing vegetables outside, it is done by the families and 'almost always by the women.'"

Economist John Friedman comments on the SAT test's new adversity rating, saying "For each extra year you spend in a good environment, you do a little better. It's very powerful when somebody overcomes that."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney comments on the upcoming results of India's election, stating "Modi is doing what these other leaders are doing — he's projecting resolve, masculinity, determination, daring and courage."

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman comments on the rising tensions between the United States and Iran, saying a conflict "is unlikely to be launched by President Trump, despite his habit of posturing as a tough guy."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express, "Instead, one can speak of two sub-waves, one among the upper castes, and another sweeping through the Dalit-Muslim-Yadav communities."

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman joined Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center's podcast to discuss the ongoig U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Research by the Costs of War Project is cited in an article on former national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster's thought that war in Afghanistan can be sustained, but the American public's defeatist narrative is inaccurate. "As of August 2016, more than 31,000 civilians are estimated to have died violent deaths as a result of the war, according to the Watson Institute's Cost of War project."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Nicaraguans are reliving a nightmare. Forty years ago, they deposed the brutal Somoza family dictatorship. But over the decade of Sandinista rule following the coup, tens of thousands of Nicaraguans were killed in a brutal civil war."

Sociologist Michael Kennedy joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss Attorney General William Barr's testimony and the Mueller Report.

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the struggle among the Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump, saying "Throughout the current scandal, the president has been free to assert his own facts in the absence of virtually any public testimony."

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Professor Ashutosh Varshney comments on young people's willingness to vote for Narendra Modi in India's election. "In 2014, Modi undoubtedly represented hope...In 2019, Modi represents a mixture of fear and hope — fear that the state would punitively hurt and repress those who dissent and disagree, and hope for those who still think he can take India higher."