In the News

Research by Professor John Friedman's think tank, Opportunity Insights, is cited in an article on the recent college admissions scandal. "Research published by Opportunity Insights ... has found that roughly three dozen of the country's "elite" colleges enroll more students from households in the top 1 percent of the income scale than they do students from the bottom 60 percent of that scale."

Fellow Sam Wilkin joined the All Things Risk podcast to discuss populism and its reach around the world.

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Professor Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express, "In India, populism as a term has generally been used for fiscal handouts for the less privileged — loan waivers, poverty alleviation schemes, etc. But that is not how the term is analysed in political theory."

James N. Green, Director of the Brazil Initiative, will be the guest speaker at Providence's Committee on Foreign Relations meeting. "Green will talk about the political and economic forces that have led to the election of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro."

Postdoctoral Fellow Aileen Teague in The Conversation, "If Trump ever follows through on his threat and puts up a closed sign at the southern border, it wouldn't be the first time. Twice in the last half-century the U.S. has tried to use the border to force Mexico to bend to America's will. The ruse failed both times."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "The delusion that Russians hate us and are working assiduously to rob us of our democratic birthright is dangerous."

Research by the Costs of War Project are cited in an op-ed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT). "It is time for Congress to ask whether, nearly 18 years after 9/11, we really want to continue to be involved in these wars for another 18 or more. According to a recent study by the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the War on Terror will have cost American taxpayers almost $5 trillion through Fiscal Year 2019."

Sociologist Andrew Schrank joined Phoenix's KJZZ to discuss disaster relief funding for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Wendy Schiller, Chair of the political science department, comments on recent damaging news reports about former Vice President Joe Biden. "It's a generational obstacle for Biden because the good stuff he's done is unknown and the bad stuff he's done is on video."

Re-Forming India: The Nation Today, edited by Niraja Gopal Jayal, was just released in India on March 27, 2019. The book discusses India's social and political landscape has, in recent times, witnessed many significant transformations. It offers a wide-ranging review of how India has, over the last few years, fared on the most critical dimensions of our collective life-politics, economy, governance, development, culture and society.

Professor Eric Patashnik's article on Obamacare is featured in this article on Republicans' new fight over the Affordable Care Act. "Well, political scientists have some interesting thoughts about the reasons the G.O.P. won't just throw in the towel on the A.C.A."

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon comments on efforts to curb methane emissions from major oil and gas companies. "It is a really important problem, and we're just starting to get a handle on what it is and how to fix it."

Professor Peter Andreas comments on the United States' history of intellectual piracy, saying "Only after becoming the leading industrial power did it become a champion of intellectual-property protections."

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In The Gaurdian, James N. Green says, "Bolsonaro's position on the dictatorship made him the equivalent of a Holocaust denier."

Columnist praises the "vital work" of the Costs of War project at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

This article cites figures from the Costs of War project stating, "...the U.S. has spent approximately $6 trillion on related conflicts that have killed at least 500,000 people."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "American sanctions are intended to send a clear message. We are telling Venezuelans that they will live in ever-intensifying pain until they somehow rid themselves and us of President Nicolas Maduro."

Jeff Colgan is featured in CNN's video explaining the relationship between OPEC and oil prices.

Wendy Schiller, Chair of the Political Science department, comments on Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's visit to the White House, saying "Trump promised economic and military alliances and he treated Bolsonaro like a true equal leader in the public eye."

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan joined Marketplace to discuss global oil supply and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Yesterday's event"In Conversation with Tom Perez '83 and Michael Steele," co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy is featured. "I reject the premise we can't have healthcare for all...The rest of the world has figured this one out and we're the only industrialized nation on the planet that hasn't," said Perez.

Research by the Costs of War Project is cited in an opinion article. "High costs in war and war-related spending pose a national security concern because they are unsustainable. The public would be better served by increased transparency and by the development of a comprehensive strategy to end the wars."

In his 2014 book,The Pope & Mussolini, Faculty Fellow David Kertzer said that Pope was planning to release a second anti-fascist encyclical but died on February 10, 1939, before the draft was finalized.

Political scientist Wendy Schiller comments on Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's planned visit with President Donald Trump this week, stating "the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and Bolton 'far outweigh any influence Bannon may try to wield.'"

Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the British Parliament's votes toward Brexit, saying "It's an example of what happens when democracies delegate responsibility for making serious decisions to the public and then they have to live with the consequences without ever thinking through what they're doing."

Costs of War Project co-director, Stephanie Savell, comments on President Donald Trump's proposed budget for the 2020 fiscal year, saying "Contrary to what most Americans believe, the war on terror is not winding down."

Ashutosh Varshney comments on the re-election campaign of India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. "As of now, Mr. Modi is the 'odds-on favorite,' but I think the narrative can change. There is still a great deal of anger at Mr. Modi."

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Watson Fellow Marc Dunkelman comments on the growing trend of companies pushing co-living spaces to employees, saying "It's terrific that (companies) are experimenting with different environments to get people to talk to others."

The Center for Contemporary South Asia's event "Decolonizing the Museum: A Teach-In" was highlighted in The Providence Journal. "Museums in the West are places one must go to in order to do the work of research on other places like South Asia," said Vazira Zamindar, a Brown University history professor.

Political scientist Wendy Schiller comments on last week's vote to protect the legality of abortion in Rhode Island. "By even giving this bill a hearing, much less bringing it to the House floor, Speaker Mattiello is acknowledging the changing dynamics on abortion both inside the Democratic Party in Rhode Island but the state more generally."

Professor Rose McDermott comments on human nature's extremes of kindness and aggression, saying "Over long periods of time among large numbers of people, you end up with a more – slightly more – egalitarian system. We breed a kind of peacefulness, at least for the in-group."

Political economist Mark Blyth joined RTE to discuss Brexit and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Last month two nuclear-armed countries, India and Pakistan, came to the brink of war. Their border skirmish was a scary message from the future. If controls on nuclear weapons continue to weaken, more countries will probably develop those weapons."

Faculty Fellow David Kertzer joined PRI's The World to discuss the recent announcement made by Pope Francis that the Vatican will unseal the records of Pope Pius XII. "The question is, how he might have tried to accommodate to Nazi rule. So the criticism against him wasn't that he was pro-Nazi, which he certainly was not."

Assistant professor Robert Blair in Inside Higher Ed, "Studying democratic erosion abroad increases optimism about those prospects, instilling confidence in the strength and longevity of American democratic norms and institutions."

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Ashutosh Varshney comments on the tensions between India and Pakistan, and the implications it might have on India's upcoming general election. "Hindu nationalists have always been tougher on national security than the Congress."

Faculty Fellow David Kertzer in The Atlantic, "The decision follows more than half a century of pressure. Pius XII—a hero of Catholic conservatives... while denounced by his detractors for failing to condemn the Nazis' genocidal campaign against Europe's Jews—might well be the most controversial pope in Church history."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the new probe into President Trump. "This could very well be the kind of foundation you'd have to lay in order to begin serious impeachment proceedings."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss President Trump's summit in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Watson Faculty Fellow David Kertzer comments on Pope Francis' decision that the Vatican will unseal the records of Pope Pius XII. "For much of the war, the Pope was hoping to play the role of unbiased mediator between the two sides, and that's part of the rationale for not taking a stand against the Nazis."

Ashutosh Varshney comments on the current conflict between India and Pakistan, saying "If Pakistan goes for a military retaliation, which hurts India significantly, that might just gift an election victory to Modi, who looked quite vulnerable only a few weeks ago."

Professor Ashutosh Varshney in The Indian Express, "India is perhaps headed towards its first national security election ever. Security will compete with unemployment and farm distress as a critical election issue, and depending on what happens to Indo-Pak tensions, it might even eclipse the significance of economics."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar joined WPRI's Dan Yorke State of Mind to discuss the national emergency declaration the Mueller investigation.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "To withdraw from Afghanistan would be to acknowledge the limits of American power. Some consider that unthinkable — an intolerable loss of face and a dangerous admission of impotence."