In the News

Brown University President Christina Paxson and Provost Richard M. Locke published a letter in the Brown Daily Herald student newspaper Sunday, January 29, as an open letter to the Brown community.

Peter Andreas discusses the border wall President Trump wants to build between the U.S. and Mexico.

Michael Kennedy in publicseminar.org, "There is an overwhelming sense of momentum. Although the size of the protest was probably less than half of what it was for the #WomensMarch, many showed up on a chilly overcast day for an event only planned the night before."

Richard Boucher, senior fellow in international and public affairs, discusses the unusual career turnovers in management positions during the presidential transition.

Ambassador Richard Boucher is quoted in an opinion piece on the State Department.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Hill, "Americans are imperialists and also isolationists. We want to guide the world, but we also believe every nation should guide itself."

More coverage on the in-depth college access and upward mobility study co-authored by John Friedman, associate professor of economics.

Political economist Mark Blyth sits down with David Brancaccio of Marketplace to argue Trump's Marxist-ways.

Zhang Zhe, a political science PhD student, described Donald Trump's inaugural address as vexing because his description of 'American carnage' doesn't align with what his parents have seen.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer examines the century old debate over American intervention.

Political economist Mark Blyth is quoted from a lecture that, in part, explains Donald Trump's rise to power.

During his inaugural address, President Trump said the United States has spent trillions and trillions overseas while neglecting infrastructure at home. The Los Angeles Times fact checked his speech by citing Watson's Cost of War project, which pegged the wars abroad at $4.79 trillion.

A new book,The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire, written by Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer hit bookshelves today.

Michael Kennedy details his experience joining the #WomensMarch on Saturday, January 21st in Providence, Rhode Island.

Jim Morone, Director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, explains how the first American election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is similar to the present, and what we can learn from it.

Political Science Professor Wendy Schiller joins Bloomberg Daybreak to giver her thoughts on President Trump's first day in office.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer's new book "The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire" is spotlighted.

Ted Widmer, Senior Fellow, in The New Yorker, "There are moments in a hard-fought campaign when a catchy cluster of words can suddenly bubble up from the depths, a shiny new lily pad."

A study co-authored by John Friedman on the role of colleges in upward income mobility is cited in the New York Times.

Jeff Colgan, Political Science Professor, in Foreign Affairs, "But when elites fail to give reasonable cues about who the 'other' is, people decide for themselves."

Elias Muhanna, assistant professor of comparative literature, comments on the polarization of different perspectives found in Arabic news.

During President Obama's touching farewell to the nation, he took the opportunity to highlight the high points of his administration. Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer said one of the important legacies President Obama leaves behind is the acknowledgment that the United States' role in the world has changed.

With the U.S. being one of the few developed countries with an increasing maternity mortality ratio, Brown associate professor Emily Oster says home visiting programs may play a role.

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow in international and public affairs, wrote an op-ed about U.S. intervention in foreign elections amid ongoing news of the alleged Russian backed hacking in the recent election.

Richard Arenberg, Adjunct Lecturer for the MPA Program, in The New York Times, "If the Senate is to end gridlock, reduce partisanship and begin to address the nation's pressing issues, both parties must renew their respect for Senate rules — and the views of the people."

Professor of Sociology Michael Kennedy joined Dan Yorke's State of Mind to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's skepticism toward Russia's involvement in the 2016 election.

Ashutosh Varshney, professor of international studies, commented on India's Supreme Court decision that candidates running for political office cannot appeal to voters on the basis of religion, caste, community or language, and called the recent decision "very mystifying."

"After a year in which too many things seemed impossible, the EU faces another problem: a government that defies the elementary principles of republican democracy." Spanish text.

Michael Kennedy in the American Sociological Association's Policy Trajectories Blog, " I would propose that we think of knowledge not only as a quest to understand structures relatively autonomous from our own understanding, or subjective realities that are the consequences of various life experiences, but focus on those mediating knowledgeabilities that shape how we engage the world with more and less consequence for that world's improvement."

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, wrote an op-ed about the fall of democracy around the world, examines its origins and factors that led to the global revolt.

Ashutosh Varshney criticised the Union government for Monday's proclamation to not permit more than a one-time deposit of over Rs 5,000 up to December 31.

Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller is quoted in an article about Monday's elector vote.

Rob Blair, Assistant Professor of Political Science, discusses his new study on the distrust Liberian citizens felt toward their government institutions during government-mandated Ebola control interventions in 2014-15.

Mark Blyth in The Washington Post, "Unsurprisingly, people are beginning to realize that they are no longer getting what they vote for."

Brown political scientist Jeff Colgan comments on the 'chilling effect' that has been spurred by Donald Trump's rhetoric about dialing back the First Amendment.

Jeff Colgan in Monkey Cage Blog, "By all accounts, Tillerson is smart, hard-working, and has a lot of experience overseas with ExxonMobil. Still, he has zero experience in public office. So does Trump."

Nina Tannenwald, director of international relations at Brown University, is quoted on the reasons why former U.S. commander in chiefs have avoided the use of nuclear arsenals.

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman speaks with Retuers diplomatic correspondent Arshad Mohammed about his time as President Nixon's interpreter on the 1972 visit to China.

Eric Patashnik in The Washington Post, "Just as liberals in power often discover that it is difficult to expand the scope of government, conservatives in power have traditionally found that the task of dismantling existing programs can be daunting even under favorable circumstances."

Brown University economist Nathaniel Hilger comments on a study about young adults not reaching the same level of success as their parents. Hilger's comments are based on the new findings and his own research.

Timothy Edgar, senior fellow at Brown's Watson Institute, said small businesses are susceptible to cyber threats and that many attacks go undetected in a discussion that examined cyber security across industries. Edgar was part of the panel convened for PBN's Cybersecurity Summit at the Crowne Plaza.

Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, ""According to American strategic doctrine, the US will be in danger if one country comes to dominate a large region of the world. China seems capable of doing that one day."

Senior Fellow J Brian Atwood co-authors an op-ed about U.S. foreign policies having unintended consequences that directly impact U.S. interests.

Mark Blyth joins WNYC to discuss global far-right growth and where nationalist parties could gain appeal.

Research professor Nick Ziegler, comments on the possible elimination of the Dodd-Frank Act now that former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin has been named Trump's Treasury Secretary.

Jeff Colgan's resource list of political science literature focused on democratic erosion around the world is mentioned.

Timothy Edgar, senior fellow at Brown's Watson Institute, comments on the likelihood of American legislators adopting similar surveillance policies as the British Parliament, which has recently passed a controversial law that allows government officials to monitor the web surfing behaviors of Britons for suspected terrorists and cyber criminals.

Research by Jeff Colgan, professor of political science, was cited in an article about American democracy following the results of the presidential campaign.