In the News

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.

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."

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."

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.

Senior Fellow Richard Boucher comments on Nikki Haley's resignation as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. "She has been unique in this administration, not because she's pushed a strong U.S. agenda, but in showing that to accomplish our goals we need to sit down with other countries and work in concert with allies and friendly countries."

Director of the Brazil Initiative, James N. Green, offered commentary on the upcoming presidential election in Brazil, saying "This is the most crucial election in the history of Brazil...Brazil can go in two different directions now."

Associate Professor Jeff Colgan in The Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog, "Delaying action on climate will hurt the economy and create new demands on taxpayers for expensive, reactive measures. These outcomes can be avoided only to the extent climate-vulnerable interests can be mobilized before they feel the impact."

Participants in the fall 2018 cohort of Brown in Washington, a partnership program between the Swearer Center and the Watson Institute, will welcome new faculty and staff members to the program this semester.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will commit $15 million to get the new initiative Opportunity Insights, co-founded by associate professor of economics John Friedman, off the ground. This week, the organization, in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, published comprehensive nationwide data and maps that predict the likelihood that kids will escape poverty based on where they live.

Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine, co-authored by Eric Patashnik is awarded the National Academy of Public Administration's 2018 Louis Brownlow Book Award.

One of the studies to examine the rollout of California's new academic standards in the recently released Getting Down to Facts project found encouraging signs from teachers and principals whom researchers interviewed. "There were strong signals from teachers in high poverty schools that they were seeing improvement" in teaching and in training in the standards, said Professor Susan Moffitt.

James N. Green, director of the Brazil Initiative, offered commentary on Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, saying "Bolsonaro is much more of a wild card than Trump is."

James N. Green, Director of the Brazil Initiative, in California Today, "The absence of minimal fire safety and security measures and the lack of disaster preparedness reflect a blatant disregard for the Brazilian nations crucial cultural and scholarly resources."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg in Newsmax, "Without the filibuster as a counter-weight against totally majority-driven procedures, Chairman Grassley (R-IA) and his majority were able to ignore fundamental demands. The minority was helpless to insist that all the necessary documents be produced to the committee."

Senior Fellow Richard Arenberg comments on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Brett Kavanaugh hearing, saying "This is the new reality in Supreme Court confirmations and unfortunately is very likely to give us a Supreme Court more tainted by partisanship than ever before."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "American leaders are threatening Iran in terms more vituperative than any the United States has ever used against a sovereign nation. To accompany their threats, they have embarked on the harshest campaign of economic sanctions in modern history."

In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, Opportunity Insights, a research and policy institute formed by economists from Harvard and Brown Universities, including Associate Professor John Friedman, released an interactive mapping tool called "The Opportunity Atlas." The Opportunity Atlas helps predict how neighborhoods influence the trajectories of the children who grow up there.

India's Supreme Court hears up to 700 legal matters a day (vs. the 70 cases a year that the U.S. Supreme Court hears), according to Professor Ashutosh Varshney. Without the Court, he says, India would be "ruled frightfully by societal prejudices and government excesses."

Senior Fellow Richard Boucher joins Fox Business to discuss the US sanctions on Iran and what he hopes to hear from President Trump's speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

According to sources, President Donald Trump has called U.S. involvement in Afghanistan a "total disaster." The Costs of War project estimates that at least 970,000 American veterans are disabled as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar provided commentary on the future of satellites and surveillance. "You study what cars are parked in the parking lot; that can reveal an enormous amount of information. It's used to plan military attacks. It could be used for corporate espionage."

International Relations student Ethan Fecht in The Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog, "...there's another weapon being deployed. Russia has begun laying the groundwork for an online influence operation aimed at turning U.S. public opinion against such a strike. How would this Twitter campaign unfold?"