In the News

The Costs of War project is cited in an article about newly released documents that breakdown how much taxpayers have contributed to America's wars.

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon in The National Interest, "More than fifty years later, the field of climate engineering remains largely unknown, especially to policymakers and the public. There are real risks to opting into—or out of—climate engineering."

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, comments on when the style of "permanent" political campaigning emerged.

Political economist Mark Blyth in an interview with Liberal Culture, "Poland will be fine. It's not like the investments are going to stop going into countries outside the eurozone. You just have to convert it from one currency to another."

The Watson Institute recently published a paper that found military related spending generated fewer direct positions and supply-chain jobs per $1 million in government money than clean energy, health care, education or infrastructure.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer presents his book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and the Birth of American Empire, to WBUR.

The emergence of a military junta — the three generals Trump said he would defer to for foreign policy choices — should be a cause for concern because they may not be best equipped to make decisions on America's long term interests, according to Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer.

Professor Eric Patashnik spoke with WBUR about his new book, Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine.

An idea by Economist John Friedman is mentioned in this article that examines why the retirement system in America might be in the crosshairs of politicians working on tax reform.

Patsy Lewis, Director of the Development Studies undergrad program, in Fortune, "The U.S., given its close proximity and long history of engagement with the region, is well-placed to take the lead.

The Costs of War project is cited in a listicle about whether America is safer 16 years after 9/11.

Jessaca Leinaweaver, Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, in US News "Baby box programs purport to protect children by allowing them to be safely abandoned to the care of the government."

Political scientist Susan Moffitt has been named the director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy.

Vazira Zamindar in The Wire, "The question is not simply whether Partition should or should not have happened."

Research by Professor Margaret Weir was mentioned in an article about what the U.S. would look like if everyone who didn't have a job and wanted one, got one.

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and former U.S. labor secretary under President Barack Obama, will join the Watson Institute as a senior fellow.

Senior Fellow Tim Edgar wrote an op-ed about the implications of Edward Snowden's decision to disclose National Security Agency practices and why any reforms of the NSA's surveillance programs must protect the privacy of all people around the world, not just those of American nationality.

As Texans worry about the potential health effects from the flooded plant that led to a massive fire, political scientist Jeff Colgan wrote in his most recent op-ed that this type of incident is called a 'knock-on' effect of climate change and that political fights are likely to ensue over whose responsible for other 'knock-on' effects as the climate continues to warm.

Postdoc Fellow Narges Bajoghli in Al Monitor, "During both the February 2016 parliamentary elections as well as the city and village council elections of May 2017, women won an unprecedented number of seats.

In an op-ed published Thursday, political scientist Rose McDermott reassured that the skills students learn in the social sciences and the humanities will be even more essential as we head into a technological world.

If you're looking to expand your linguistic horizons while simultaneously setting yourself up for professional success, there's one language that vastly outpaces the rest in terms of its utility according to Brown economist Emily Oster.

This piece cites an article by Marc J. Dunkelman, a fellow in international and public affairs, where he explained why New Jersey didn't become the "metropolis of the world" in the way that New York eventually did.

In wake of recent events, The Choices Program introduced a new Teaching with the News lesson entitled "History in Dispute: Charlottesville and Confederate Monuments."

A new report by Noah Coburn of the Costs of War Project sheds light on the human rights violations immigrant contractors experience in Afghanistan.

Mark Blyth in the Financial Times, "If US politicians really care about the future of their country they will invest more, not less, in the Chomsky trade. If they want to hand global technological leadership to China, they should keep going down the path they have chosen."

The Costs of War project cited in the Washington Post, "This is in addition to about $212.6 billion in direct spending to care for war veterans since 2001, when terrorists' attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon triggered U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. That figure is an estimate by Neta C. Crawford, a political-science professor at Boston University and co-director of the Costs of War project at Brown University."

Deborah Gordon on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "There is no doubt that a rapid rise in the earth's temperature will impose high costs on not only our environment and health but also our economic and physical security. In recognition, most nations have committed to significant mitigation efforts. But will these collective efforts be enough?"

Catherine Lutz in Common Dreams, "Each of these three nations' leaders saw Guam with its US military presence – so far from the United States, so close to them – as a danger and a provocation."

If nuclear weapons were around when America's founders framed the Constitution, they would have certainly taken precautionary measures to limit the president's power to start a nuclear war, according to Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer.

Ashutosh Varshney in the Financial Times, "As India completes 70 years of its independence, the nation's democracy is becoming Janus-faced. Its electoral vibrancy is not in doubt, but the polity's performance between elections is acquiring profoundly illiberal traits."

An article by faculty fellow Elias Muhanna is cited in a piece that describes the music of Mashrou' Leila, a Lebanese indie rock band. Last year, Muhanna noted how the group used poetry from Sappho and Walt Whitman in the lyrics.

Children whose parents belong to the top 1 percent of the income ladder are 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy League university, according to a new paper published in the National Bureau for Economic Research. The paper is co-authored by John N. Friedman, an associate professor of international and public affairs, and economics.

Sociology professor Michael Kennedy in RIOT Material, "We need recognize the times in which we live and articulate a vision that moves us beyond not just this present, but also that past which got us here."

In a story that examines whether President Trump's tweets violate Twitter's terms of service, senior fellow Tim Edgar comments on the likelihood of Twitter banning him.

Article by Rose McDermott, professor of international relations, who posits that the growing ability to choose our dating partners based partly on their political ideology, via dating websites and apps, may lead to an increasingly polarized body politic, with fewer chances for compromise.

Commentary by columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. on shifting relationships among Americans, particularly in neighborhoods, focuses on work by Marc Dunkelman, a Watson Institute fellow who wrote "The Vanishing Neighbor" in 2014.

An op-ed by senior fellow Stephen Kinzer argues that despite new waves of anti-Russia sentiment in the U.S., Russia does not threaten any vital American interest.

Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science, wrote an op-ed about Nitish Kumar's pragmatic choice to enter an alliance with the BJP political party in India and how it might influence other alliances.

Elias Muhanna in The New Yorker, "Mashrou' Leila, the biggest alt-rock band in the Middle East, was formed in 2008 by several students at the American University of Beirut. The group's early songs—ironic, grungy jams about the nettlesome oppression of bourgeois Lebanese society—made them famous in Beirut's indie scene."

Wendy Schiller, chair of political science, joins Bloomberg radio to discuss why established Republicans don't want to work for Trump.

Political Science Professor Wendy Schiller joins Bloomberg Surveillance to discuss Trump's agenda and how the Republican Party can move forward.

Wendy Schiller comments on a potential reason why Gov. Gina Raimondo's approval rating is lower than Charlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts.

Across cultures, women are bombarded with different messages about what's ok to eat during pregnancy. Emily Oster, professor of economics and author of "Expecting Better," said she didn't find any evidence that would suggest drinking alcohol would harm a fetus.

Anthropologist Sarah Besky in The Hindu, "Understanding Gorkhaland requires understanding its underlying histories. In many ways, the Gorkhas of Darjeeling have yet to taste the liberation of India's Independence."

A new paper co-authored by Brown economist John Friedman examines the key findings of the Equality of Opportunity Project, which exploits a unique data set to assess the contributions that individual colleges make to intergenerational social mobility.

This feature on the origins of "beef lynchings" and the political turmoil that has ensued in India after the death of a Muslim boy includes a perspective by Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science.

Wendy Schiller commented on Gov. Gina Raimondo's re-election chances after a tumultuous week that saw the governor featured in the New York Times, but also mentioned in poll tagging her as one of the "most unpopular governors" in the country.

Stephen Kinzer wrote an op-ed about the probable re-election of Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and the challenges he will undoubtedly face in the next seven years.