In the News

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan joined St. Louis' KTRS After Show to discuss the impact of oil and the United States' reliance on Saudi oil.

A new study recently released by the Costs of War Project estimates that the United States has spent $5.9 trillion on wars following 9/11.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "As a new Congress prepares to take office, incoming members are challenging the status quo on health care, climate change, tax policy and other domestic issues. Few, however, have shown much interest in world affairs."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg offered commentary on the upcoming vote for House speaker, saying "The opposition is banking on this being a 'change election.'"

Middle East Studies concentrator Rhea Stark '19 has won a 2019 Rhodes Scholarship, one of the highest academic honors in the nation, which provides all expenses for two or three years of graduate study at the University of Oxford in England.

Neta Crawford, Boston University professor and Co-Director of the Costs of War Project, joined NPR's Morning Edition to discuss the recent study that estimates the U.S. has spent $5.9 trillion on wars following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar offered commentary on the midterm election results on WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "In one way, though, Bolsonaro is scarier than any of those other political thugs. He is not only a provocateur who thrives by turning people against each other, but also a product of the darkest period in modern Latin American history."

Political scientist Wendy Schiller joined NBC 10 News to discuss the results of the midterm elections.

This article cites research from the Costs of War Project saying, "These various post-9/11 foreign policy failures have cost our debt-riddled nation at least $1.5 trillion in direct costs... and more than $5 trillion in ancillary costs—such as interest and future veterans expenses—according to a 2017 analysis by the Watson Center at Brown University."

A new report published by the Cost of War Project estimates the death toll in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq after the 9/11 attacks between 480,000 and 507,000 people.

Chas Freeman, Senior Fellow and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, joins Monocle's The Foreign Desk to discuss the dozens of vacant ambassadorships under the Trump administration.

Political economist Mark Blyth joined WBUR's Radio Open Source with Christoper Lydon to discuss the results of the midterm election.

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the upcoming plans of the current Congress, before the new Congress is sworn in in January. "Democrats have no incentive to agree to funding that they have steadfastly oppose except in the context of a broader immigration policy agreement."

Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller said she believes Elorza's landslide victory is evidence that voters are pleased with the direction in which Providence is headed. "It matters how people view the progress of the city more than the actions of campaigning."

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren stopped by Brown last night for the Taubman Center's Governor Frank Licht '38 Lecture series, speaking on the central question of "Who does government work for?"

Political scientist Wendy Schiller said politicians usually hang on to leftover campaign money "until they figure out what the next steps are in their political life."

Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller joined Bloomberg's morning show to discuss midterm election results.

Political scientist Wendy Schiller offered commentary on Nancy Pelosi's political legacy and future, saying "Everything about the rules of the game, about achieving power, has changed out from under her."

Marc Dunkelman, Fellow in International and Public Affairs, said the decline in neighborly interactions across North America is due in part to the rise of digital communication.

Professor Omer Bartov said he saw similarities between contemporary Republicans' campaign posters of Jewish opponents holding fistfuls of cash and famous Nazi posters from the 1940s. "Much of the rhetoric is about how the left is going to destroy everything, destroy the economy, bring this invasion of barbarians — all of this was very much part of fascist and Nazi xenophobia."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg in USA Today, "At its best, which many Americans still remember, the Senate was the place where the parties came together, through extended debate and super-majority requirements, to find common ground to move our contentious, diverse nation ahead."

Professor Ross Cheit was awarded the prestigious Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Trust Award for inspiring a former student to make a difference in his or her community.

James N. Green, Director of the Brazil Initiative, sat down with Democracy Now! to discuss what President-elect Jair Bolsonaro means for the future of Brazil. "...the Bolsonaro government... is probably going to be implementing a series of extremely reactionary changes to the country..."

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan joins PRI's The World to discuss the lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general that alleges that Exxon Mobil defrauded its shareholders by downplaying the threat of climate change to its business.

Sociologist Michael Kennedy in RI Future, "Even before the last week's violence, I expected the Democrats to take back the House. This last week makes that anticipation almost a sure thing."

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman sits down with CGTN's Anand Naidoo to discuss U.S.-China relations.

Professor Wendy Schiller predicts incumbent Gina Raimondo will narrowly win in the upcoming gubernatorial elections, "People who thought there was a chance to beat [Raimondo] are more discouraged than they were a couple weeks ago and are going to be angry at Fung."

In their first of a two-part event series, DNC Chair Tom Perez '82 and former RNC Chair Michael Steele discussed the state of politics and the U.S. and the upcoming midterm elections.

This weekly "polling roundup" quoted public policy professor Eric Patashnik, who said that "it is already clear that Republicans have made it even harder for their party to govern if they manage to retain control of both chambers and take another stab at dismantling Obamacare."

Brazil Initiative's Director, James N. Green, comments on the possibility of Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing candidate, winning Brazil's presidency. "The goal of Bolsonaro is to overturn every single victory social movements have achieved since the return to democracy and every single victory workers have won over the last 80 years."

This article cites research by Professor Peter Andreas who found that the auto industry and economies of border towns, such as San Diego, were devastated by post-9/11 crackdowns at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on what's at stake during the upcoming midterm elections, "Even some Republicans may no longer continue to support his most objectionable actions."

Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller predicted that if independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo gets more than 6 percent of the vote, the election will favor incumbent Gina Raimondo.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "As a young reporter in El Salvador during the late 1970s, I came to know the country's highest-ranking cleric, Archbishop Oscar Romero. A few days ago Pope Francis elevated him to sainthood."

James N. Green, Director of the Brazil Initiative, on the upcoming presidential election in Brazil, "Should Bolsonaro win the popular vote at the end of October, he will have the backing of a conservative majority in the Congress to carry out his far-right agenda. Should the left manage to flip the projected outcome and elect Haddad to the presidency, it will undoubtedly be a weak government."

Political scientist Wendy Schiller says inclement weather often prevents lower-income people and the elderly from getting to the polls.

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan joins PRI's The World to discuss how dependent the United States is on Saudi Arabian oil.

Political scientist Wendy Schiller provided commentary on the mayoral race in Providence, saying "People judge records by their own experiences in a city."

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan in The Washington Post, "The United States could live without Saudi Arabia, but it would be costly. A positive relationship between Washington and Riyadh can help minimize interstate conflict in the Middle East — and keep a lid on volatility in global oil markets."

Nina Tannenwald in Foreign Affairs, "After decades of arms control agreements, security cooperation, and a growing consensus about the unacceptability of nuclear weapons, the world is now headed in the opposite direction."

This episode of On the Media looks at the story of money, from its uncertain origins to its digital reinvention in the form of cryptocurrency, and features political economist Mark Blyth discussing the history of money and how cryptocurrency could shape the future of money.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "The Nobel Peace Prize can give voice to the voiceless while telling the rest of us something we don't already know. Unfortunately, the Nobel Committee sometimes succumbs to the lure of politics."

Is the dysfunction Rhode Island's GOP has displayed the last few weeks a symptom of a larger problem? Professor Wendy Schiller says, "In politics no one is 'owed' loyalty; they have to earn it, and in this case Fung has not done that with either Trillo or Morgan."

Professor Rose McDermott says younger women are more sensitive to perceived harassment than older ones. "How we draw the line between inappropriate or patronizing behavior and genuine harassment is really challenging because women themselves don't agree...Those in-between spaces are getting harder to negotiate."

This article mentions Getting Down to Facts, a research project co-led by Susan Moffitt, director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. "Although the CDE (California Department of Education) could be an efficient source of instructional support for schools, it currently is not."

Former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and current Senior Fellow Chas Freeman gives his insight on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, journalist and outspoken critic of the Saudi Arabian regime, "It's certainly a gross violation of diplomatic norms to abduct people from consular premises. It's even worse to murder them in such premises and assert immunity."

Former Secretary of State John Kerry joined Ed Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute, and Susan Moffitt, director of the Taubman Center, for a discussion on his new book, Every Day is Extra, during a recent visit to campus.