In the News

In Spring 2016, GPD trainees and sociology graduates Diana Graizbord and Jamie McPike were looking for ways to contribute to the Watson Institute's mission. Drawing on their international experience in making qualitative research speak to policy reform efforts in Mexico and India, they designed a new senior seminar in applied public policy entitled Engaged Research/Engaged Publics: The Science and Craft of Applied Policy Research.

A new study by Rose McDermott, Professor of International Relations, suggests that individuals with aggressive tendencies are more likely to support aggressive foreign policy positions.

Stephen Kinzer, Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, joined Andrew Stewart to discuss American foreign policy and the upcoming presidential election.

Jeff Colgan, Richard Holbrooke Associate Professor of Political Science, co-authored a new study on the abandoned hazardous waste left beneath a U.S. military base built within the Greenland Ice Scheet in 1959. Due to the rapid progression of climate change, the waste could soon reenter the environment and harm nearby ecosystems.

With Congress in recess and many people on vacation, national politics are supposed to hit a late-summer lull. That may no longer be the case, according to Wendy Schiller, professor of political science.

With third hand accounts suggesting Donald Trump might use nuclear weapons if given provocation, scholars discuss why world leaders have stayed away from the destructive power of nukes. Nina Tannenwald, professor of international relations, said a global taboo developed throughout the world following remarks by Harry Truman in 1948, which as a result delegitimized the use of nukes as appropriate military weapons.

Stephen Kinzer in The New York Times, "A worsening strategic landscape could lead Mr. Erdogan to reshape his policies in Syria and elsewhere in the region."

Ashutosh Varshney, professor of international studies and political science, writes an op-ed about what he observed during his travels to parts of China and the simmering debate about the political leanings of China's growing middle class.

Emily Oster in TIME, "But the new prenatal screening tests are a game changer. They represent a significant technological breakthrough because the key to identifying problems or genetic risks is being able to see the baby's DNA."

Michael Kennedy, professor of sociology, comments on an article about the volatile nature of elections and voters' assessment of political responsibility following tragedies.

Wendy Schiller discusses Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe, "The lesson of South Sudan is that crashing into other countries often leads to tragedy — even if we do it with policy instead of guns."

Tim Edgar comments on the Republican Party platform's cyber agenda that was released this week, coinciding with the start of the GOP Convention.

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, comments on news of House Majority Leader John DeSimone's failure to pay his property taxes and owing the city more than $18,000.

Rose McDermott, professor of international relations, discusses the biological influences that interact with environmental factors to shape ideology across the political spectrum in cultures around the world.

As legislators grapple with how to address and define cyberattacks that could be considered acts of war, cyber conflict expert Timothy Edgar comments on the difficulty of attributing such attacks.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe, "If the coup fails, no one knows what comes next. If it succeeds, the same is true. Many Turks welcomed the coup of 1980 because it ended a period of violent chaos, but it was followed by a wave of brutal repression."

Postdoctoral Fellow Jordan T. Camp discusses his edited volume Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter, with his co-editor Christina Heatherton, and Chuck Mertz on WNUR 89.3FM in Chicago.

Nina Tannenwald, director of the International Relations Program, writes an op-ed about the ongoing violence between Palestinians and settlers in the Jewish-only settlement of Kiryat Arba.

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, wrote an op-ed about the call to increase bombing efforts in Syria, citing failed efforts to reform Iraq and Afghanistan with the same strategy.

The Watson Institute's Cost of War Project is cited on BBC Business Matters.

Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the role of the Federal Reserve System in the aftermath of the United Kingdom's vote to exit the European Union just as currencies around the world drop.

Andrew Schrank and Michael Piore co-author an article about Puerto Rico's debt problem and the approval of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. They argue that unless Puerto Rico adopts a new development structure, the country is likely to experience the same crisis down the road.

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, writes an op-ed about NATO's outdated structure and suggests the need to pull back from its noble mission.

Emily Oster in Quartz, "Tipping may not lead to good service on your first visit at a new restaurant, but I can pretty much guarantee that not tipping will result in bad service on your second and all further visits."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer talks to Sue O'Connell on NECN about Brexit and the terror attack in Turkey.

Infants that are one month to one year of age have a higher mortality rate in America than in other developed nations, according to a paper co-authored by Emily Oster.

Mark Blyth discusses Britain's exit from the EU and the fallout that followed.

Glenn Loury, professor of social science and economics, comments on the need to reform the criminal justice system in America which imprisons thousands of people without dealing with the underlying causes.

Following the announcement of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, Watson Institute senior fellow Timothy Edgar commented on how the Brexit could impact the cyber security space and pending policies.

Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science and public affairs, writes an op-ed about the major forces that have pushed Donald Trump into becoming the presumptive presidential Republican nominee.

Steven Kinzer, discusses in an op-ed how Britain's decision to quit the European Union is in a part an expression of self-defeating insularity, but it also a stern rebuke to arrogant elites who failed to listen to ordinary citizens. He goes on to say that Europeans are angered by the way the EU's European Commission, run by unelected bureaucrats, makes decisions, and sees a chance for the EU to change course.

Marc J. Dunkelman, visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, presents on the TEDx stage and gives his take on why some deem Washington as "broken."

Assistant professor of sociology and public affairs, Jayanti Owens, discusses her new study that suggests early behavioral problems negatively impact high school and college completion rates for boys more than girls.

Mark Blyth discusses Britain's "Brexit" campaign on WNYC's On the Media podcast (segment beings 44 minutes into the episode).

Timothy Edgar, Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, responded to the LA Times' question about whether watch lists, and the no-fly list in particular, should be used to deny Americans the right to purchase firearms.

In News Is My Business, Deepak Lamba-Nieves' report is cited, "For too long, and mistakenly, Puerto Rico's industrial policy has been limited to the concession of tax incentives to attract foreign capital."

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, offered his opinion on the dueling foreign policy speeches delivered by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar discusses how someone gets put on the terrorist watchlist and whether policies related to the watchlist should be changed. Edgar previously reviewed terrorist watchlists under the Bush and Obama Administration between 2006 and 2009. Revelations about the Orlando mass shooting indicate the FBI placed the shooter on a terrorist watchlist, but critics say it wouldn't have mattered if he remained on the list because of his civil liberties.

Timothy Edgar, a senior fellow in international and public affairs at the Watson Institute, and Yahoo correspondent Michael Isikoff join anchor Katie Couric to discuss the attack in Orlando over the past weekend and what information has come to light since the tragedy occurred.

Jo-Anne Hart on LobeLog.com, "Many state-level sanctions on Iran carry provisions allowing for their lifting if the federal government declares that state sanctions interfere with the conduct of U.S. foreign policy or are pre-empted by federal law."

Mark Blyth comments on the state of the Greek economy and the European Central Bank's decision that Greece hasn't done enough to complete its bailout review. "The intellectual case against austerity has never been in doubt."

In the New York Times, Emily Oster's research is cited, "A recently published paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy adds to this discussion. Alice Chen, Emily Oster and Heidi Williams combined data from the United States with data from Finland, Austria, Belgium and Britain. As other studies have done before, they adjusted for differences in coding of very premature births. And as other studies found before, the United States has a significant infant mortality disadvantage. This study was different, however. It used microdata, or individual records of birth and death, as opposed to the aggregate data usually employed for cross-country comparisons."

Senior Fellow Sue Eckert testifies on the U.S. sanctions policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Following the death of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Stephen Kinzer comments on the disservice publications have committed in neglecting the boxer's political identity. Reading the obituaries, "one might imagine that Ali lived the kind of life that made everyone admire him. The truth is quite opposite. During the prime of his life, Ali was widely hated," Kinzer wrote. He says that Ali and others who shared anti-war passions are among recent examples to suffer from the indignity of "having crucial aspects of their political identities" forgotten.

On Law360, "Research compiled by Sue Eckert and Jo-Anne Hart at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs indicates that 32 states and Washington, D.C., maintain some level of sanctions against companies doing business with Iran, further clouding an already uncertain compliance landscape."

Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University, comments on Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Rhode Island, to compliment infrastructure improvements via RhodeWorks, the statewide road and bridge repair program.

Hart and Eckert in The Washington Post, "Beyond U.S. federal sanctions by the executive and legislative branches, two-thirds of U.S. states have imposed their own sanctions against Iran."