Political Geography: United States of America / Publication Year: within 3 Years

401. Rescuing the Unreachable: Personnel Recovery and Resupply in a Contested Environment

Author:: William Fensterer, Richard Jr. Marshall, Colleen Minihan, and Jason Philips
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: In a potential armed conflict between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the Indo-Pacific, sustainment of the Joint force is not assured. China’s modernized antiaccess/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities threaten sustainment lines of communication and challenge successful joint personnel recovery operations. This article examines the Joint operating environment through the lens of a historical case study, analysis of the current operating environment, and an assessment of the future operating environment—the next fight. The authors propose large quantity artificial intelligence (AI)-capable unmanned systems and a scalable force concept able to penetrate the A2/AD and recover and resupply the Joint force. Fielding new and existing technologies, continual doctrine refinement, and tailored wargaming is necessary to find and cover the gaps in our capabilities and be prepared to win the next fight.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Artificial Intelligence, Logistics, Joint Force Maneuver, Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, and Personnel Recovery
Political Geography:: China, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

402. Maritime Militias: Disrupting Naval Operations in the Pacific Theater and the Case for Intermediate Force Capabilities in the Maritime Domain

Author:: Peter Dobias
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: China aims to pursue national goals through a combination of political, diplomatic, and information maneuvering. With China’s growing assertiveness against other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the risk of a military conflict in the region is increasing. Drawing on the ideological importance of militias, during the last 10 years China heavily invested in building its fleet of maritime militias masquerading as fishing vessels. This article argues that in case of a conflict in the Asia-Pacific, these militias could be employed to interfere with the U.S. and allied forces and supply flow within and into the theater and disrupt naval and amphibious operations in the Pacific theater. While there are limited ways of engaging these forces below a lethal threshold, the intermediate force capabilities could provide the allied forces with a broader range of options, while imposing some cost and dilemmas on the adversary, and potentially contribute to the deterring of their use.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Navy, Maritime, Deterrence, Militias, Military Operations, and Disruption
Political Geography:: China, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America

403. Breaking the Newtonian Fetish: Conceptualizing War Differently for a Changing World

Author:: Ben Zweibelson
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: Explaining what a military’s social paradigm concerning conflict and war is requires a theoretical approach to both frame the core constructs and offer feasible alternatives. This article introduces social paradigm theory for military application and how most modern, technologically advanced militaries sustain a Newtonian-styled worldview concerning warfare and what constitutes war. The Newtonian-styled war paradigm gained prominence during the last five centuries, yet is now becoming increasingly insufficient and possibly irrelevant. The integration of ever-increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence into nearly all aspects of warfare will require new ways of thinking and how teams of humans and AI systems collaborate in complex security contexts immediately. The new combination of the space domain, cyberspace, those military forces associated with these new domains, and special operations activities are of increased focus for how and why conflict may change, particularly within an overarching traditional nuclear deterrence between state competitors. This requires a military paradigmatic shift, moving away from Newtonian constructs.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Artificial Intelligence, Warfare, Complexity, Force Design, and Emergence
Political Geography:: Global Focus, United States of America, and Space

404. A Call for Space-Domain Intelligence Training

Author:: Genelle M. Martinez
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: U.S. Space Force intelligence initial skills training (IST) currently occurs via U.S. Air Force pipelines. However, as the Space Force matures, it must take ownership of its training programs. Consolidating guardian intelligence initial skills training under the purview of the newest Service fosters a critical space-domain focused mindset and guardian culture at the outset of a member’s career.
Topic:: Intelligence, Culture, Armed Forces, Space, Training, Space Force, and Identity
Political Geography:: United States of America and Space

405. Marine Corps and Space Force Integration for a More Lethal Joint Task Force to Counter China

Author:: Josh Bringhurst
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: The objective of this article is to highlight the unique capabilities of the Marine Corps and Space Force and how they can function as part of a Joint Task Force (JTF) operating within U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). More importantly, it aims to discuss the need to establish a Joint force structure and package that minimizes the risk should the United States need to quickly shift from competition to a crisis or, worse, conflict with China. Determining command relationships, allocated resources, and authorities as part of a JTF structure and package will be critical to quickly transition such a force in response to a crisis or engage the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in conflict.
Topic:: Space Force, Strategic Competition, Joint Operations, People's Liberation Army (PLA), US Marine Corps, and Great Powers
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

406. The Soviet Sputniks and American Fears about the Militarization of Outer Space

Author:: Tom Wilkinson
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: The publication of the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2020 Defense Space Strategy and its recognition of outer space as a “distinct warfighting domain,” along with recent media discussion regarding the militarization of outer space by powers such as Russia and China, seems to portend a new era of outer space relations. The so-called “final frontier” that has for years been treated as a realm of scientific and civilian exploration with a spirit of cooperation appears poised to transform into a domain of military competition. The early fears centered around three key themes: the possible terrestrial impact of rocket technology capable of launching a satellite, the unknown applications of satellite technology, and the assumption that the launch of the Sputniks had opened up a new frontier, one that the United States had failed to reach at the time of the Soviet achievements. An examination of these themes and how Americans discussed the Sputniks reveals that while the domain of space looks incredibly different in the twenty-first century, discussion surrounding the militarization of outer space has a longer history that could offer insights for contemporary discussion.
Topic:: Cold War, History, Disarmament, Space, Militarization, Sputnik, and Dwight D. Eisenhower
Political Geography:: Soviet Union, United States of America, and Space

407. Military Spacesteading: Space-based Logistics Mediums for Future Beachheads

Author:: Robert Jr. Billard
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: This article explores the concept of spacesteading as it pertains to military operations. Specifically, it expands on both potential and emerging technologies that could enable logistics nodes to be positioned in geosynchronous and geostationary orbit above the Earth to enable to rapid deployment of equipment. This article proposes that space domain domination would allow for a superior alternative to existing expeditionary logistics caches such as maritime prepositioning force ships and the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program–Norway. A pair of vignettes help to illustrate the value in the military enabling logistics capabilities within the space domain. While this article largely focuses on space-based logistics applications for the U.S. Marine Corps, these efforts would have far-reaching impacts to the whole of the U.S. military and beyond.
Topic:: Maritime, Logistics, Space Operations, Space Elevator, and Carbon Nanotubes
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and United States of America

408. Contractual Origins of Anti-Americanism: Pew 2013 Results

Author:: Cem Birol
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Economic Norms Theory (ENT) implies that anti-modernist and anti-market values flourish in countries where the central authority poorly monitors contracts that bind economic transactions. Decades of research show that ENT astutely predicts civil war and interstate war incidents, as well as people’s support for war, and suicide bombing in defense of Islam. This paper investigates the association between contract enforcement and anti-Americanism, which is the ENT’s core, yet is a statistically under-evaluated implication. Accordingly, in countries with poor economic contract monitoring, power-contending elites can attribute the resultant loss of prosperity to the USA and relatedly spread anti-American values among citizens. It is the urban poor who are cognitively most available to adopt such elite-driven anti-Americanism since they tend to be hurt most socially and economically by unfulfilled market contracts. To investigate this argument, I statistically estimate random intercept models on a sample of Pew Global Attitudes Project’s 2013 survey results. I observe that a three-way interaction among individuals’ urbanity, poverty, and their nations’ poor contract enforcement indicators increase anti-Americanism.
Topic:: Economics, Poverty, Urban, Survey, Economic Norms Theory (ENT), Hierarchical Modelling, and Anti-Americanism
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

409. Examining Relationships Among Turkey, Israel, and the United States in Terms of Interest Similarity

Author:: Zuhal Çalık Topuz and Jonathan Michael Spector
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Interest similarity is defined as the affinity of national interests in global affairs. This research aims to examine the interest similarity among Turkey, Israel, and the US. Interest similarity of countries has been examined by taking into account the factors of (a) alliance portfolio, (b) MID data, and (c) UNGA voting records. Quantitative data regarding these factors have been analyzed with correlation and regression models. The findings show that the interest similarities among these three countries have a statistically significant correlation. This research also examines the relationships between the three states to better understand which factors affect their interest similarity, and how. Thus, this study contributes to the political science and international relations literature by analyzing quantitative data while examining the interest similarity among Turkey, Israel, and the US.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Affairs, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, Israel, and United States of America

410. Sanctions and Postcolonial Statecraft in Iran: Resisting the Iran Libya Sanctions Act and Beyond

Author:: Andrew Thomas
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Though economic sanctions are designed to weaken and isolate their target for the stated purpose of policy change, in the case of Iran they have often invigorated its desire to defy Western coercion and domination. Since the Islamic revolution this has led to multiple political standoffs, including notably during the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration and the post-nuclear deal standoff with the United States (US). Through sanctions, the West has often been unwilling to accept little less than a grand bargain on Iranian foreign policy, which has informed and contributed to a postcolonial narrative of resistance in the Iranian state. This narrative has served as an integral tool of Iranian statecraft in an effort to bolster the leadership’s legitimacy. By looking at elite discourse and Iranian government responses to the Iran Libya Sanctions Act during Ahmadinejad’s government and the Trump Administration’s Maximum Pressure campaign, this article highlights narratives of postcolonial resistance in Iran’s response to US sanctions, in an effort to explain why sanctions often push them further away from acquiescence to international norms.
Topic:: Post Colonialism, Sanctions, Iran, and Resistance
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Libya, and United States of America

411. The Berlin Pulse 2024/2025 (full issue)

Author:: Hanno Pevkur, Stephanie Zonszein, Majed Al-Ansari, Halyna Yanchenko, and Boris Pistorius
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Körber-Stiftung
Abstract:: Welcome to the eight’s edition of The Berlin Pulse! As every year, we compare international expectations of Germany with public opinion in Germany. But this year’s edition is special, as it comes off the press with one part of our representative survey conducted right after the polls have closed in the United States and the German coalition collapsed. Thanks to our editors Julia Ganter and Jonathan Lehrer, this issue underlines that Germany must decide what image it wants to project and what international expectations it wants to meet. Bangladeshi analyst Shafqat Munir and Russian opposition politician Andrei Pivovarov want Germany to live up to its moral aspirations and support the revival of democratic values in their countries. Israeli journalist Mairav Zonszein argues that precisely Germany’s reputation as a defender of democratic norms complicates its arms support to Israel, calling on Berlin to ensure its weapons are not used in human rights violations. Meanwhile, Ukrainian politican Halyna Yanchenko urges Germany to supply more arms to help end Russia’s illegal war of aggression. These expectations illustrate that Germany’s international standing as a partner in upholding international law, human rights and democracy is currently at stake. Berlin faces a complex balancing act, striving to avoid perceptions of selectively applying international law. Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur argues that half-hearted actions will not suffice – or as he puts it, ʻDo we want Ukraine to survive, or do we want it to win?ʼ The German population has a strong opinion on many of these issues. While 57 per cent of German respondents still want Berlin to support Ukraine militarily only 25 per cent want military support for Israel. Despite these dilemmas, it is encouraging that 46 per cent of German respondents want their country to be more engaged on international crises. It is the highest level since we started surveying this in 2017 and it shows that, after three years of war in Ukraine and a year of war in the Middle East, Germans want change and want to see Germany driving change. Thanks to our partner, the Pew Research Center, we know that Germans and Americans have trusted each other to make a change in international politics over the past four years. But our new figures, conducted after the US election, show that this partnership may be threatened: 79 per cent of Germans think President Donald Trump will damage transatlantic relations. But only 35 per cent of Germans think that Germany should step in to lead the West. It is time to decide, Germany. What kind of international player do we want to be, in which areas do we want to go all in? The following pages can help us make difficult decisions in difficult times.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Taliban, Polls, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Ukraine, India, Germany, and United States of America

412. Cold War Case Studies and Chinese Perspectives

Author:: Raven Witherspoon, Jenna Wichterman, and Shivam Shankar Singh
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: The Carter Center
Abstract:: Rising Sino-American tensions have prompted widespread discussion of a “New Cold War,” and analysts increasingly worry that flashpoints in the bilateral relationship could trigger conventional war that could escalate to the nuclear domain. This research utilizes the Cold War analogy as a starting point for analyzing how nuclear war between the U.S. and China can be averted.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

413. Bending the Guardrails: U.S. War Powers after 7 October

Author:: International Crisis Group
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Amid the Gaza war, the Biden administration has resorted to military force without asking Congress, further corroding the U.S. constitution’s checks and balances in this domain. Job one is a ceasefire but war powers reform is a vital task for the future.
Topic:: Reform, Constitution, Military, 2023 Gaza War, and War Powers
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

414. The Next U.S. Administration and China Policy

Author:: International Crisis Group
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: The world’s two most powerful countries – the U.S. and China – are increasingly at odds over several issues. The winner of November’s U.S. presidential election should strive to contain the tensions in this difficult relationship in service of stability in the wider world.
Topic:: Bilateral Relations, Elections, Donald Trump, and Rivalry
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

415. El futuro de la OTAN en su 75 aniversario

Author:: Gustavo Palomares
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: El 75 aniversario de la OTAN coincide con su mayor transformación a consecuencia del momento que atraviesa Europa ante el conflicto de Ucrania, los nuevos riesgos y amenazas, o las próximas elecciones en EEUU. El nuevo concepto estratégico aprobado en la Cumbre de Madrid en 2022 supone una ampliación de objetivos y escenarios, que se extienden a Oriente Medio, Mediterráneo, Sahel o el Sur Global. La Fundación Alternativas y la Secretaría General de Política de Defensa del Ministerio de Defensa de España presentaron el informe “El futuro de la OTAN en su 75 aniversario. Guerra en Europa y escenario internacional en transformación”. Este documento pone de manifiesto la necesidad de reaccionar a la agresión rusa en Ucrania fortaleciendo los mecanismos de coordinación e inter-operabilidad entre la Alianza y los socios de la UE desde una perspectiva de complementariedad.
Topic:: Security, NATO, Geopolitics, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Europe and United States of America

416. China, The United States And Japan In A Changing International Order: Historical Foundations Challenged By The Rise Of China

Author:: Cem Yılmaz
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Novus Orbis: Journal of Politics & International Relations
Institution:: Department of International Relations, Karadeniz Technical University
Abstract:: This study analyses bilateral relations among People’s Republic of China (China), the United States (US), and Japan by comparing the impacts of historical foundations on the one hand and a prominent contemporary factor, which is the rise of China. The study aims to compare basic historical data and the resilience of these data in the face of a rising China. The relationships among the three actors demonstrate that the historical legacy continues to hold prominence in Chinese perspectives of Japan, while the rise of the actor is prominent in American perspectives of China. Both historical legacy and a rising China factor are dominant in Japanese perceptions of China. The Japanese foreign policy towards China is characterised by a mutual reinforcement of both dimensions, resulting in an overall enhancement of their strength. The study, in this instance, demonstrated that historical parameters become less relevant when a contemporary parameter has the potential to have a major effect on history. The rise of China, which has resulted in a fundamental shift in the international order, and the decline in the importance of the historical dimension in the relationships between the actors under examination are viewed as two phenomena that reinforce one another.
Topic:: History, Geopolitics, and International Order
Political Geography:: Japan, China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

417. Changes in the military deployment of the United States and their implications for Israel’s wars in the region

Author:: Eytan Gilboa
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
Abstract:: At the start of the Gaza War, President Biden warned Iran and its proxies against launching an all-out attack on Israel and sent aircraft carriers to the region to clarify his intentions. The withdrawal of the Gerald R. Ford carrier from the Mediterranean could be interpreted as a sign of American weakness, diminish deterrence of Iran, and undermine US mediation efforts in Lebanon.
Topic:: Armed Forces, Military Affairs, Deterrence, Regional Security, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

418. A Political and Cultural Glimpse Into America’s Future: Generation Z’s Views on Generational Change and the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: Members of Generation Z are coming into their own politically, socially, and culturally, bringing their values and viewpoints to their communities and workplaces, and to our nation’s political system. In addition to being the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in our nation’s history, Gen Z adults also identify as LGBTQ at much higher rates than older Americans. Like millennials, Gen Zers are also less likely than older generations to affiliate with an established religion. This report considers what sets members of Generation Z apart from older generations in terms of their political and cultural values, their faith in communities and political institutions, and their views on religion and the importance of diversity and inclusion in the nation’s democracy. The report is based on both the results of a national survey of all Americans, which includes oversamples of Generation Z — both Gen Z adults (ages 18–25) and Gen Z teens (13–17) — and on an analysis of ten virtual focus groups that included a wide cross section of Gen Z adults from across the United States.
Topic:: Politics, Public Opinion, Elections, and Generation Z
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

419. Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 02-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: Throughout 2023, PRRI interviewed more than 22,000 adults as part of its American Values Atlas, which provides for the first time the ability to estimate support for Christian nationalism in all 50 states. Additionally, this new analysis examines how religion, party, education, race, and other factors intersect with Christian nationalist views.
Topic:: Religion, Public Opinion, Survey, and Christian Nationalism
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

420. Views on LGBTQ Rights in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: Throughout 2023, PRRI interviewed more than 22,000 adults as part of its American Values Atlas, allowing for the ability to provide a detailed profile of the demographic, religious, and political characteristics of LGBTQ Americans. As in years past, this analysis measures Americans’ attitudes on LGBTQ rights across all 50 states on three key policies: nondiscrimination protections, religiously based service refusals, and same-sex marriage. This year’s report also includes new analysis of the intersection between Christian nationalist views and LGBTQ attitudes in each state.
Topic:: Public Opinion, Domestic Politics, LGBT+, Survey, and Christian Nationalism
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

421. Religious Change in America

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: America encompasses a rich diversity of faith traditions, and “religious churning” is very common. In 2023, PRRI surveyed more than 5,600 adults across the United States about their experiences with religion. This report examines how well major faith traditions retain their members, the reasons people disaffiliate, and the reasons people attend religious services. Additionally, this report considers how atheists and agnostics differ from those who say they are “nothing in particular.” Finally, it analyzes the prevalence of charismatic elements as well as prophecy and prosperity theology in American churches and the role of charismatic Christianity in today’s Republican Party.
Topic:: Religion, Domestic Politics, and Christianity
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

422. Abortion Views in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: Nearly two-thirds of Americans support abortion legality in all or most cases; partisans remain deeply divided. More than six in ten Americans (64%) say abortion should be legal in most or all cases; by contrast, 35% of Americans say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. Just 9% of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases. Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided on abortion, with a 50-point gap between them: 86% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 36% of Republicans. Just 15% of Republicans believe abortion should be illegal in all cases. While Republican attitudes on abortion legality remain largely unchanged since 2010, Democratic support for abortion legality increased from 71% in 2010 to 86% in 2023; Support for abortion legality has also increased among independents over time, from 54% in 2010 to 67% in 2023.
Topic:: Religion, Public Opinion, Domestic Politics, and Abortion
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

423. Creating More Inclusive Public Spaces Two Years Later

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: In partnership with E Pluribus Unum, PRRI released a major national survey in 2022 examining American attitudes about the legacy of Confederate monuments and memorialization in public spaces. In 2024, PRRI interviewed more than 5,500 adults across the United States to revisit Americans’ attitudes on these topics two years later.
Topic:: Politics, Elections, Inclusion, Public Space, Confederacy, and Memorials
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

424. 2023 PRRI Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: Two-thirds of Americans (66%) identify as Christian, including 41% who identify as white Christians and 25% who identify as Christians of color. Over one-quarter of Americans (27%) are religiously unaffiliated, and 6% belong to a non-Christian religion.[1]
Topic:: Religion, Public Opinion, Census, Domestic Politics, Diversity, and Identity
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

425. Challenges to Democracy: The 2024 Election in Focus

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: While most Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, they have more positive assessments of how things are going in their communities and personal lives. Seven in ten Americans (70%) believe things in the country are going in the wrong direction, including most Republicans (94%) and independents (70%), compared with 41% of Democrats. While a majority of Americans (54%) also believe that things in their home state are going in the wrong direction, 56% of Americans believe things in their local communities are going in the right direction. Roughly eight in ten Americans, across party lines, believe that things in their personal lives are going in the right direction. Americans are divided on whether American culture and way of life since the 1950s has changed for the better, with Republicans and Democrats holding opposite views. Republicans (68%) are more likely than independents (48%) and Democrats (31%) to say that American culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse since the 1950s. White Christian groups and Hispanic Protestants are the most likely to say American culture and way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s.
Topic:: Elections, Democracy, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

426. Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: A PRRI-Meanings of Democracy Lab Report

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: To view a PDF of findings presented October 30, 2024, click here. To view the release event featuring a panel discussion of the survey’s findings, click here. Introduction In recent years, Christian nationalism has emerged as a major issue and source of division in American politics. While much attention has rightfully been paid to the strength of Christian nationalist beliefs and their implications among the general public, less attention has been paid to the large swaths of Americans who resist Christian nationalist beliefs. Insofar as Christian nationalism frames Christianity as an essential feature of American culture and identity, and in some cases calls for the exclusion of non-Christian citizens from positions of power and influence, it makes sense that non-Christian groups would be the most resistant to Christian nationalism. But resistance to Christian nationalism is found across most religious traditions, as well as across political parties, demographic groups, and geographic regions. Throughout 2023, PRRI interviewed more than 22,000 adults as part of its American Values Atlas, which provides for the first time the ability to estimate support for Christian nationalism in all 50 states. In February 2024, PRRI released a comprehensive report on Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States. This PRRI-Meanings of Democracy Lab report will assess the state of Americans’ resistance to the ideas associated with Christian nationalism in all 50 states.
Topic:: Democracy, Domestic Politics, and Christian Nationalism
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

427. Analyzing the 2024 Presidential Vote: PRRI’s Post-Election Survey

Author:: PRRI Staff
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: PRRI: Public Religion Research Institute
Abstract:: A new PRRI survey of 4,757 voters explores the U.S. political and cultural landscape after the 2024 election, including the impact of partisanship, race, and religion on voters’ choices and their feelings about the election’s outcome. Additionally, the survey considers how Christian nationalism and authoritarianism are linked to presidential vote choice. In the wake of the election results, the survey also considers Americans’ confidence in our elections, views about our political parties, and attitudes about the state of democracy in a second Trump term.
Topic:: Elections, Domestic Politics, Survey, and Christian Nationalism
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

428. Israel-Palestine: Mapping Islamophobia on Facebook by U.S. Presidential Candidates

Author:: John L. Esposito, Archit Mehta, and Mobashra Tazamal
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: May 2024 marks over seven months of Israel’s bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip, home to over two million Palestinians. UN experts and rights organizations have described Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a genocide, and the death toll now stands at over 36,000 Palestinians dead, with over 80,000 injured. Israel’s establishment in 1948 led to the forced expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages, an episode that Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (catastrophe), as well as numerous incidents of Israeli settlers engaging in massacres of Palestinians. Since its establishment, there have been a number of wars between Israel and Palestinians and the surrounding Arab countries, and following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel began its occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and the Gaza Strip. This control of Palestinian territories involves “policies of land confiscation, illegal settlement, and dispossession,” rampant discrimination, and settler violence, all of which deprive Palestinians of their basic rights. Israel’s 50+ years of occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have resulted in what Amnesty International describes as “systematic human rights violations against Palestinians living there.” In a 2021 report, Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory amounts “to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.” When it comes to the Gaza Strip, in 2007, Israel imposed a blockade on the territory after the Hamas group came to power. Following the October 2023 Hamas attack, Israel “imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting its supplies of electricity, food, water, and fuel.” Since Hamas came to power, Israel has launched several military assaults on Gaza in an effort to eradicate Hamas.
Topic:: Genocide, Elections, Social Media, Islamophobia, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

429. Factsheet: Marco Rubio

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Marco Rubio is a US Senator from the state of Florida. He previously ran for President in 2016. He has a documented history of minimizing the issue of Islamophobia, promoting anti-Muslim tropes, and supporting discriminatory policies targeting Muslims. In 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated him to serve as Secretary of State.
Topic:: Elections, Islamophobia, Donald Trump, and Marco Rubio
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

430. Factsheet: Sebastian Gorka

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Sebastian Gorka is a political commentator who appears on Salem Radio Network and Newsmax. He previously worked for Fox News and served as the Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump in 2017. In 2024, President-elect Trump picked Gorka to serve in his second administration as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism. Gorka supports religious profiling, has targeted Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups, and has publicly worn a medal affiliated with a Nazi-linked Hungarian group.
Topic:: Media, Islamophobia, Political Extremism, and Sebastian Gorka
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

431. Factsheet: Mike Huckabee

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Mike Huckabee is the former governor of Arkansas, a Baptist minister, political commentator, and ran to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2008 and 2016. He is a staunch supporter of Israel, has questioned Palestinian identity, supports settlements, and has a history of making anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic statements. In 2024, President-elect Donald Trump picked Huckabee to serve as the United States Ambassador to Israel.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Islamophobia, Donald Trump, and Mike Huckabee
Political Geography:: Palestine, North America, and United States of America

432. Factsheet: Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (Ekal-USA) is a Houston, Texas-based non-profit organization with over 70 chapters across multiple U.S. cities. It serves as the sister organization of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India (Ekal-India), a Hindu nationalist group that operates single-teacher schools in India. Ekal-India has been accused of promoting hatred towards religious minorities.
Topic:: Islamophobia, Non-profits, Hindu Nationalism, and Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (Ekal-USA)
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and United States of America

433. Factsheet: Sadhvi Rithambara

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Sadhvi Rithambara is a senior leader in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and is the founder of Param Shakti Peeth, a “charitable organization” in India, which also has two sister organizations in the US, Param Shakti Peeth Of America Foundation and Param Shakti Peeth Of America East Coast (PSPA). Rithambara is a leading figure in the Hindu nationalist movement and her anti-Muslim speeches played a central role in the demolition of the Babri Mosque in the 90s. Leaders of PSP in the US are also affiliated with far-right Hindu nationalist organizations.
Topic:: Islamophobia, Far Right, Charity, Hindu Nationalism, and Sadhvi Rithambara
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and United States of America

434. Factsheet: Elise Stefanik

Author:: Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:: Elise Stefanik is a Republican congresswoman from New York. Initially entering politics as a moderate, Stefanik has rebranded herself and become a staunch supporter and defender of President-elect Donald Trump. She has a history of propagating anti-Palestinian narratives, and has supported legislation targeting pro-Palestinian voices. She has also allied with organizations known for promoting Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian views, and has called for defunding entities like UNRWA, labeling it as a “terrorist front.” In 2024, President-elect Trump selected Stefanik to serve as the US Ambassador to the UN.
Topic:: Discrimination, Islamophobia, Far Right, Donald Trump, Republican Party, and Elise Stefanik
Political Geography:: New York, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

435. Public Opinion and Development Policy: Alignment Needed

Author:: Irene Paviotti
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The crises of the past few years have significantly affected the volumes of official development assistance (ODA) – also known as aid – provided by traditional donors. 2023 marked the fifth consecutive year for increased ODA allocations globally: total volumes reached 223.7 billion US dollars, a significant increase from the 160 billion US dollars provided in 2019. The succession of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and, most recently, the flare-up of the Israel-Palestine conflict contributed to such increase. Absolute volumes however position members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC), that is, traditional donors, still far away from the United Nations target of allocating 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to ODA – in 2023, the OECD average hovered around 0.37 per cent.[1] Although this percentage is the highest in 55 years,[2] the need for concessional finance for developing countries has arguably never been more urgent. The challenges brought about by an ever-worsening climate crisis, coupled with long-standing issues such as poverty and poor health are enough to justify increased ODA, according to practitioners.[3] These figures are usually (and rightly) discussed from such outward impact perspective – how will a less generous donor affect the beneficiaries whose livelihoods its ODA supports? The input dimension, that is, whether these policies align with a country’s public sentiment on ODA, is however relatively less explored. ODA is public funding, so it might be legitimate to ask: where does public opinion stand on aid, and what could this possibly mean for development policy and practice?
Topic:: Development, Public Opinion, and Economic Aid
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, and United States of America

436. Artillery in Present and Future High-Intensity Operations

Author:: Elio Calcagno, Bryan Clark, Sam Cranny-Evans, Alessandro Marrone, Nicolò Murgia, and Eugenio Po
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The Ukraine war has highlighted among NATO allies the importance of planning for protracted, large-scale, and high-intensity conflicts. In this context, artillery capabilities have regained significance, with a clear emphasis on survivability, quality, quantity, range, but also on adequate munition stocks and production capacity. However, successful integration into a wider array of capabilities (including long range precision fires) and advanced Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities are crucial for an effective artillery force. Meanwhile, in the maritime domain, recent events in the Red Sea have shown how naval artillery is gaining a prominent role as a cost-effective solution to defence from drone and swarming threats.
Topic:: Defense Policy, NATO, Procurement, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, France, Italy, and United States of America

437. The Tragedy behind Israel’s Ostensible Triumph

Author:: Riccardo Alcaro
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The killing by Israel of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the Islamist Shia militia that controls South Lebanon, may well go down in history as the harbinger of a seismic change in the balance of power in the Levant and arguably the whole Middle East. Iran’s ensuing retaliatory missile strike makes war with Israel all but inevitable, though its magnitude remains uncertain. Part of it will be fought with missiles, rockets and drones flying across the sky between the two arch-enemies. Part of it will be fought across the region, possibly wherever Iran’s axis of resistance – the network of pro-Iran armed groups spanning Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen is based. Most of it will likely be fought in Lebanon, home to Hezbollah, whose demise – or even severe weakening – would result in Iran’s influence in the Levant being curtailed. While Israel’s onslaught on Hezbollah has tilted the balance of power heavily in its favour, it is too early to make predictions – after all, the Middle East has disrupted expectations time and time again in the past. It is still possible though to make some considerations and discuss a few open questions.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Hezbollah, Proxy Groups, and Hassan Nasrallah
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, and United States of America

438. US-Germany Missile Agreement: Deterrence or Escalation?

Author:: Polina Sinovets
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: This October was marked by a statement by the Head of the German Foreign Service Intelligence, Bruno Kahl, who claimed that by the end of this decade at the latest, Russian troops could “carry out an attack” against NATO.[1] The defence chief could hardly be accused of hyperbole. His comments took place at the time of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the Kremlin’s growing nuclear blackmail of the West and regular threats to use some measures[2] against any NATO country whose military deployments might potentially affect Russian missiles’ striking capabilities. Against this backdrop and with the new US administration coming to power in 2025 under the slogan of turning all its attention to China, Europe will have to care much more about its defence and security than before 2022. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine revealed the weak spots of the European NATO pillar in terms of arms production, military budgeting and general preparedness for a large-scale war in European territory, which turns out to be critical for the security of the continent.
Topic:: Defense Policy, NATO, Deterrence, Military, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Germany, and United States of America

439. Anti-terrorist cooperation as part of Poland’s geopolitical shift. “Operation Bridge” and the rise of a strategic partnership with the United States

Author:: Tomasz Piotr Kozłowski
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:: War Studies University
Abstract:: This paper discusses Poland’s involvement in “Operation Bridge,” which aimed to transport Jewish citizens from the Soviet Union to Israel between 1989 and 1992. The study is based on recently declassified documents from the former intelligence and counterintelligence services, the Foreign Ministry, and the Prime Minister’s Office, supplemented by accounts of policymakers, secret service officers, and militia involved in protecting Soviet Jews during transit operations. The author argues that this operation was not just a humanitarian effort but also had significant geopolitical implications. The newly elected non-communist government under Tadeusz Mazowiecki saw this as a critical move to establish stronger ties with the United States and Israel. The author also highlights how the cooperation between Poland and the United States in intelligence sharing, counterterrorism, and security operations paved the way for Poland’s strategic partnership with the United States and its eventual entry into NATO. The paper contributes significantly to our understanding of the role played by Poland in the post-Cold War era and sheds new light on the development of US–Polish relations.
Topic:: Security, Cold War, Terrorism, Geopolitics, and Counterintelligence
Political Geography:: Europe, Israel, Poland, and United States of America

440. Asset Ownership, Rates of Return, and the U.S. Working Class

Author:: Leila Davis and Charalampos Konstantinidis
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: In this paper, we analyze the intersection of asset market participation and inter-class wealth inequality in the United States by showing that working-class households earn lower rates of return on their assets than non-working-class households. We, first, operationalize an empirical definition of working-class status using the Survey of Consumer Finances for 1989-2022. Using this classification, we, second, document that inter-class income and wealth inequality have risen since 1989. Third, we show that, with the exception of business assets, working-class households hold similar asset classes as non-working-class households and receive financial income. However, working-class households receive a 2.5 percentage point lower average rate of return than non-working-class households, conditional on observable demographic and economic differences across classes. This gap reflects differential returns on businesses and real estate. These results suggest that expanded asset market access in the U.S. has conferred unequal benefits by class status and widened inequalities along class lines.
Topic:: Markets, Inequality, Assets, and Working Class
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

441. U.S. Teachers, Overwork and Perceptions of Work-Time Reductions: Evidence from Massachusetts

Author:: Katherine Moos and Noé M. Wiener
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: This study is based on four focus group interviews with public school teachers in Massachusetts about reducing work hours as a means of improving their working conditions. Our analysis documents a common experience of overwork, expressed in the focus groups and measured by time-use diaries. Teachers reported long work hours and a significant “mental load”—both of which affect teachers’ quality of life, physical and mental health, relationships with their families, and desire to keep teaching. While participants were union members and therefore experienced with collective bargaining, most approached the issue of overwork as an individual problem that must be solved by setting and maintaining personal boundaries. Focus group participants differed in their assessment of a hypothetical policy proposal for a work-time reduction without a loss of pay for teachers or instructional time for students. While generally supportive of the goal, participants questioned whether contractual reductions would correspond to actual reductions in hours worked. Teachers expressed both eagerness to include work-time reductions in future contracts, as well as skepticism that their districts had the fiscal space or political will to achieve this goal. Discussions revealed that teachers’ professional identities as hard-working and caring “perfectionists” inhibited their policy imaginations with regard to using collective bargaining to win them additional leisure time.
Topic:: Education, Labor Issues, Teachers, and Work
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

442. Implicit Coordination in Sellers’ Inflation: How Cost Shocks Facilitate Price Hikes

Author:: Isabella Weber, Evan Wasner, Markus Lang, Benjamin Braun, and Jens van't Klooster
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: Supply shocks are now widely recognized as a driver of the recent inflation bout, but the role of firms’ pricing strategies in propagating input cost shocks remains contested. In this paper, we review the state of the academic debate over sellers’ inflation and assess whether, in line with this theory, economy-wide cost shocks have functioned as an implicit coordination mechanism for firms to hike prices. We use a dataset containing 138,962 corporate earnings call transcripts of 4,823 stock-market listed U.S. corporations from the period 2007-Q1 to 2022-Q2 to conduct sentiment analysis via both dictionary-based natural language processing and a large language model approach. We find that large input price shocks (as well as their co-occurrence with supply constraints) correlate with positive sentiments expressed in executives’ statements about cost increases. Qualitative analysis provides further insights into the reasoning behind executives’ optimism regarding their ability to turn an economy-wide cost shock into an opportunity to raise prices and protect or even increase profits.
Topic:: Economy, Inflation, Profit, and Corporations
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

443. Distributional Implications and Share Ownership of Record Oil and Gas Profits

Author:: Gregor Semienuk, Isabella M. Weber, Iain Weaver, Evan Wasner, Benjamin Braun, Philip B. Holden, Pablo Salas, Jean-Francois Mercure, and Neil R. Edwards
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: The 2022 oil and gas crisis resulted in record fossil-fuel profits globally that rehabilitated the oil and gas industry, obstruct the energy transition and contributed to inflation. We analyse the size and the distribution of financial beneficiaries of these unprecedented profits across countries and across wealth groups within the United States, using company income statements and comprehensive ownership data, to construct a global network of shareholdings with 397,619 nodes. We estimate that globally, net income in publicly listed oil and gas companies reached US$916 billion in 2022. The United States was the biggest beneficiary receiving US$301 billion in fossil fuel profits both from domestic extraction and through global shareholding, more than U.S. investments of US$267 billion in the low carbon economy that year. Analyzing the U.S. distribution including privately held US companies, 51% of profits went to the wealthiest 1%, predominantly through direct shareholdings and private company ownership. In contrast the bottom 50% only received 1%. The incremental fossil-fuel profits in 2022 over those in 2021 were enough to increase the disposable income of the wealthiest Americans several percent and compensate a substantial part of their purchasing power loss from inflation that year, thereby exacerbating inflation inequality. Record fossil-fuel profits also reinforce existing racial and ethnic inequalities and inequalities between groups with different educational attainments. Our results also show that only a small share of overall profits benefits institutions that serve the wider public such as pension funds. We discuss how windfall profits taxes could be used to both lower inequality and accelerate the energy transition as increasing geopolitical tensions and climate impacts portend continued volatility in oil and gas markets.
Topic:: Oil, Gas, Inflation, Fossil Fuels, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

444. The Economics of Eliminating Plastic Water Bottles in the United States

Author:: Emily Diaz-Loar
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: As of the most recent 2018 data, U.S. residents purchased more than 70 billion plastic water bottles. On average, this amounts to each U.S. resident buying 214 plastic water bottles during 2018. Virtually all these bottles are manufactured as fossil fuel-based products, and 86 percent are disposed of after only one use. Such fossil fuel-based single-use plastic bottles inflict a range of severe negative impacts on the environment and human health. They leach toxic chemicals into the soil, water and food supply, which in turn contribute to causing various types of cancers as well as infertility, in humans and other species. They also release tiny ‘microplastic’ particles, which have been found in, among other parts of the human body, the carotid artery tissues that supply blood to the brain. Recent research has found that people with microplastics in their carotid artery tissues were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from any cause over the next three years than people who had none. Beyond this, plastic bottles litter beaches and roadways, clog water drains, strangle animals and contaminate habitats. It is clear that continuing, and expanding, the consumption of single-use fossil fuel-based plastic water bottles, in the U.S. and elsewhere, is unsustainable. In this study, I examine alternative approaches to phasing out their use. More specifically I consider six possible alternatives to single-use fossil fuel-based plastic water bottles within the U.S. economy. These include: recycling fossil-fuel based bottles; utilizing plants as the raw material for producing ‘bioplastic’ bottles; and producing bottles with materials other than plastics, including paperboard cartons; glass; aluminum; and stainless steel. Of these alternatives, I show that, in terms of both environmental impacts and production costs, the most viable substitutes for single-use fossil-fuel based plastic bottles are reusable bottles made from either aluminum or stainless steel. Overall, aluminum or stainless steel-based bottles can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of water bottles, in particular the chemical toxicity that results from their use. Substituting aluminum or stainless steel-based bottles can also dramatically reduce the levels of waste and raw material extraction associated with fossil fuel-based plastic bottles. Further, I estimate that the costs of producing bottles from either aluminum or stainless steel will fall by over 30 percent in a scenario in which they substitute for 90 percent of the fossil fuel-based single-use plastic bottles now being consumed in the U.S. Overall, my results demonstrate that there are realistic prospects to achieve major environmental and economic benefits through phasing out single-use plastic bottles and creating viable alternatives to their continued use.
Topic:: Economics, Pollution, and Plastic
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

445. Do Abortion Bans Affect Reproductive and Infant Health? Evidence from Texas’s 2021 Ban and its Impact on Health Disparities

Author:: Raymond Caraher
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: The overturning of Roe v. Wade led to a wave of abortion bans in state legislatures across the United States. This emergence of a restrictive reproductive health policy environment has the potential to affect a wide range of reproductive health outcomes. This paper uses Texas’s 2021 6- week ban on abortion as a case study to examine the causal effect of an abortion ban on reproductive health outcomes, specifically abortion rates, fertility rates, and infant health outcomes. It examines how these effects may be heterogeneous by group, especially focusing on how the effects of abortion bans on reproductive health may be concentrated in those who are already facing disparities in reproductive health outcomes such as Black women. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, the analysis finds that the ban decreased abortion rates by over 40 percent, and increased fertility rates by about 4 percent, with the largest increases for Black non-Hispanic women and for counties far from a state with less restrictive abortion laws. This paper then constructs a measure of unmet reproductive health needs after an abortion ban, and finds that the unmet needs after the Texas 6-week ban are largest in counties with higher proportions of Black non-Hispanic residents, as well as counties which are furthest away from states which did not ban abortion after the Dobbs decision. The analysis then examines the effect of the ban on infant health outcomes, specifically focusing on heterogeneity in the effect of the ban on birth weight and infant mortality. This paper finds that the ban led to increases in the probability of an infant being born with very low birth weight of about 7 percent, with Black non-Hispanic infants experiencing the largest increases in the likelihood of very low birth weight. Additionally, the analysis finds significant increases in the infant mortality rate of about 6 percent after the abortion ban, again with Black non-Hispanic infants experiencing the largest increases in mortality. Further, the ban increased infant mortality rates more in counties which are further away from states which did not ban abortion after the Dobbs decision. The results suggest that the effects of abortion bans tend to be especially concentrated in marginalized populations, as well as those who are least able to shift their fertility options away from in-state abortions after a ban. The analysis shows that the trend towards an increasing number abortion bans will further exacerbate disparities in reproductive health outcomes.
Topic:: Public Health, Reproductive Health, and Abortion
Political Geography:: Texas and United States of America

446. The Incidence, Costs, and Correlates of High-Cost, High-Risk Consumer Credit Among Black and Latino Households

Author:: Edwith Theogene and Christian E. Weller
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: Black and Latino households regularly have a lot less wealth than white households. Many people of color, mainly Black and Latino households, also often have to resort to more costly and risky debt than is the case for white households. We present data from FINRA’s nationally representative 2021 Financial Capability Survey on the distribution of various forms of household credit by race and ethnicity. The data show that incidences of high-cost, high-risk consumer credit is higher among Black and Latino households than among white households. Loan denials, credit market discrimination and credit steering all factors likely contributing to this greater incidence. Further, the costs associated with those forms of credit are also higher for Black and Latino households than they are for white households, even within the same types of credit. Finally, these forms of credit correlate with lower savings, especially among Black and Latino households. The results indicate that the more widespread incidence of consumer credit among Black and Latino households likely contributes to the persistence of the racial wealth gap.
Topic:: Race, Inequality, Discrimination, Credit, Wealth, and Consumer Credit
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

447. What You Should Know About the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017

Author:: Our Secure Future
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Our Secure Future
Abstract:: In October 2017, the United States passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a piece of landmark legislation that recognizes women as powerful agents of change in peace and security operations. This legislation came into being thanks to the efforts of the US Civil Society Working Group and seeks to make the US a global leader in promoting women’s active engagement in conflict prevention, relief, and recovery. Originally published in 2018, this policy brief includes 2023 updates on the United States WPS Act and serves as a guide on the history, implementation, and funding of the act.
Topic:: Security, Civil Society, Women, Legislation, Peace, Women, Peace, and and Security Act
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

448. Institutionalizing Women, Peace and Security The Role of Gender and Women, Peace and Security: Advisors in the United States Government

Author:: Kelly Case
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Our Secure Future
Abstract:: This brief assesses the United States government’s progress on advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda through the work of Women, Peace and Security Advisors, Gender Advisors, and additional positions that have this as a component of their work. It is designed as a starting point for discussion to help policymakers: improve their understanding of these roles; strengthen their knowledge on why this agenda can help achieve more durable peace around the world; and provide recommendations on how to create a more robust infrastructure to better support these critical roles.
Topic:: Security, Women, Peace, and Institutionalization
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

449. Scramble for Green Technologies: Strategies of Major Players and Serbia’s Opportunities

Author:: Mikhail Korostikov
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Abstract:: The struggle between the EU, the US and China for dominance in new technological niche markets has the potential to become the most important story of the next two to three decades, potentially overshadowing any ongoing military conflicts in the world. It is taking place on several fronts at once: artificial intelligence, new principles of industrial production (such as the use of robots or additive technologies), space exploration, and much more. This report explores the political and economic confrontation between the three sides regarding the green technology industry and draws certain conclusions regarding the implications of this confrontation for Serbia. The role of Serbia’s reserves of lithium and other minerals important for the latest high-tech industries could affect the country’s standing in the world in general, and its importance to the EU in particular. However, it is critical to ensure that Serbia maximises the opportunities associated with the exploitation of lithium and concentrates the maximum number of links in the value chain associated with the extraction, processing and utilisation of the valuable resource. It is equally important that the lithium mining process be carried out in accordance with the best environmental standards and, first and foremost, with the support of the environmental authorities of the European Union, potentially being the final beneficiaries of the project.
Topic:: Markets, European Union, Green Technology, Mining, Lithium, and Green Transition
Political Geography:: China, Eastern Europe, Serbia, and United States of America

450. How China’s Human Capital Impacts Its National Competitiveness

Author:: Briana Boland, Kevin Dong, Jude Blanchette, Ryan Hass, and Erica Ye
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: How will the strengths and weaknesses of China’s human capital impact national competitiveness? China’s efforts to maintain economic growth, strengthen supply chains, develop strategic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) sectors, and secure a modern military edge hinges on the ability to cultivate and utilize human capital. As the United States and other countries increasingly engage in multidomain competition with China, it is critical to start from a clear-eyed understanding of China’s human capital and Beijing’s strategy for nurturing national talent. Investments in higher education, strategic STEM sectors, and military talent demonstrate key areas in which Beijing is focusing on cultivating human capital. However, China must overcome significant obstacles to innovate as it faces substantial demographic pressures, socio-economic inequalities, and challenges to attracting and retaining top talent both domestically and internationally.
Topic:: Economic Growth, Human Capital, Supply Chains, and Competition
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and United States of America

451. Prioritizing Health System Development in the Pacific: A Layered Approach

Author:: Kathryn Paik and Eileen Natuzzi
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: This brief gives an overview of health challenges across the Pacific Islands region and identifies the need for development partners such as the United States to reframe their approach to health system development. The document provides several recommendations for policymakers and development organizations as they work with the Pacific to effectively meet the health needs of the region.
Topic:: Development, Health, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Asia-Pacific and United States of America

452. Crafting a Robust U.S. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

Author:: Sanam Rasool, William Alan Reinsch, and Thibault Denamiel
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: The introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in the United States presents an intricate policy challenge at the intersection of climate action and international trade. With countries around the world integrating climate considerations into their trade policies, the United States is under growing pressure to develop and implement its own CBAM. This policy tool, already adopted by the European Union, is geared toward leveling the playing field for domestic industries while promoting global climate action and accountability. A future U.S. CBAM could serve as a vital instrument in the nation’s transition toward a net-zero economy, encouraging domestic carbon footprint reduction and driving trading partners to adopt cleaner practices. However, crafting and rolling out such a mechanism comes with knotty challenges, ranging from choosing optimal carbon accounting methods and pricing to warding off potential trade disputes and garnering global collaboration. As the United States charts its course through this complex policy landscape, it has the opportunity to shape global climate action while safeguarding its economic interests.
Topic:: Climate Change, International Trade and Finance, Economy, and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
Political Geography:: North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

453. Energy Security and the U.S.-Philippine Alliance

Author:: Harrison Prétat, Yasir Atalan, Gregory B. Poling, and Benjamin Jensen
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: The Philippines’ fragile energy outlook threatens to undermine efforts to secure its strategic autonomy vis-à-vis an assertive China. A tabletop exercise held at CSIS this spring with U.S. and Philippine participants explored the strategic implications of different energy investments and their vulnerability to disruption. Bringing online renewable and clean energy sources is an imperative to providing for Philippine energy security in the long term, but fossil fuels will have a critical stabilizing role in the near term. The United States can support its ally through enhanced alliance programing, technical assistance, and new approaches to interagency cooperation.
Topic:: Security, Sustainability, Green Transition, and Energy Security
Political Geography:: Philippines, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America

454. U.S. Investment in the Philippines: More Than Meets the Eye

Author:: Japhet Quitzon and Gregory B. Poling
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: The size and scope of U.S.-Philippine economic cooperation is well documented; however, the quantitative and qualitative impacts on the Philippines are poorly understood. Without comprehensive, accurate, and easily accessible data on U.S. investments and their effects in the Philippines, malign actors may promote false or harmful narratives, thereby weakening public support for the U.S.-Philippine alliance. It is crucial for the United States to improve public awareness and understanding of its economic and investment activities in the Philippines.
Topic:: Bilateral Relations, Investment, and Economic Cooperation
Political Geography:: Philippines, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America

455. Soviet Lessons for China Watching

Author:: Ford Hart
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:: Edited by Jude Blanchette of CSIS and Hal Brands of SAIS, the Marshall Papers is a series of essays that probes and challenges the assessments underpinning the U.S. approach to great power rivalry. The papers will be rigorous yet provocative, continually pushing the boundaries of intellectual and policy debates. In this Marshall Paper, Ford Hart argues that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political institutions, the CCP’s practical behavior, and continued veneration of Marxism-Leninism in the CCP constitution highlight the Soviet model’s deep influence on Beijing. As such, lessons from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) can help us understand the CCP’s approach to governance today.
Topic:: International Security, Geopolitics, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Soviet Union
Political Geography:: China and United States of America

456. Bretton Woods Institutions: 80 Years and Counting

Author:: Roman Marshavin
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:: East View Information Services
Abstract:: ON JULY 22, 2024, the world marked the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of the Bretton Woods Conference, which led to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This milestone provides an opportune moment to assess the progress achieved and reflect on future challenges. In 1944, when these institutions were created, the world was vastly different. World War II was still ongoing, but the defeat of Nazism was within reach. Beginning in 1943, consultations were held in Moscow and Washington among the Allies of the anti-Hitler coalition – primarily the US, the UK, and the USSR – regarding the future world order, including its economic dimensions. The Soviet delegation, led by Deputy People’s Commissar for Foreign Trade Mikhail Stepanov, played an active role in these discussions, including the establishment of the UN and financial institutions. It is fair to say that without the USSR’s participation, the creation of the first-ever truly global financial institutions would have been impossible. Archival materials confirm the high level of preparation by Soviet experts and their diplomatic skills, which enabled them to defend several key positions for the country and reflect them in the final documents.
Topic:: World Bank, Institutions, IMF, BRICS, and Bretton Woods
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Soviet Union, United States of America, and Global South

457. Economic Performance in US Fossil Fuel Communities

Author:: Noah Kaufman, Ariane Desrosiers, and Sarah Doctor
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: Rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels to address the severe threats of climate change requires economic transformations that pose challenges for regions heavily dependent on coal, oil, natural gas, or other carbon-intensive industries. The United States is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas and the fourth-largest producer of coal, and communities across the country depend heavily on fossil fuel industries for jobs, investments, and public revenues that fund schools and other critical services. These communities will need considerable support to successfully navigate a global transition away from fossil fuels, and a better understanding of their local economies will help policymakers design and implement pragmatic support. However, scant evidence exists for such use today. This report, part of the Resilient Energy Economies initiative co-led by the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, uses a novel dataset and case studies to establish a baseline of local economic performance in fossil fuel–dependent communities between 2004 and 2019. This period captures the peak and first decade of decline of the US coal industry as well as the shale revolution that boosted US oil and gas production.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Finance, Fossil Fuels, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

458. Lessons from the Nuclear Waste Negotiator Era of the 1990s for Today’s Consent-Based Siting Efforts

Author:: Matt Bowen
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: Nuclear power is being weighed in energy transition plans around the world, as countries seek to replace fossil fuels with low-carbon alternatives while also meeting growing energy demand and maintaining reliability and affordability. When considering extension of existing nuclear reactor licenses as well as approving new ones, there is an ethical obligation for today’s users to develop plans for long-term management of the resulting nuclear waste and not defer its disposition to future generations. In the United States, the federal government is contractually obligated to take ownership of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) produced at power plants, but this has not happened. The one deep geologic repository project named in law by Congress for potential disposal of SNF—Yucca Mountain in Nevada—has reached a stalemate, with Congress appropriating no money to move the project forward since 2010 due to Nevada’s opposition. Negotiations with US states and tribes to host storage and disposal facilities have been sensitive in the past due to both a stigma around nuclear waste and a perception of risk associated with such facilities. A federal “nuclear waste negotiator” role existed in the early 1990s to overcome these difficulties and find a state or tribe willing to host a repository or interim storage facility, though this short-lived, volunteer-based program did not lead to deployment of either. This report, part of a series of publications on nuclear waste policy at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, reveals lessons learned from the experiences of the two prior negotiators that could benefit a recent, congressionally directed effort at the Department of Energy (DOE) to begin a “consent-based” siting program for nuclear waste. Those individuals were authorized to negotiate terms and conditions—including financial and institutional arrangements—with a state or tribe in a written agreement that would then have to be approved by Congress. Importantly, a state or tribe was assured it could explore the potential of hosting a site while retaining the right to withdraw at any time, and if it did proceed, would have a measure of power in setting terms for the project.
Topic:: Negotiation, Nuclear Waste, Inflation Reduction Act, and Consent
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

459. Revisiting GTCC and GTCC-Like Nuclear Waste Disposal in the United States

Author:: Matt Bowen, Maya Lameche, and Marine Gapihan
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: While the United States (US) has facilities that can and do dispose of most low-level nuclear waste (LLW), it does not yet have a viable disposal pathway for two categories of waste: so-called greater-than-class-c (GTCC) nuclear waste, and nuclear waste with characteristics similar to it, or “GTCC-like.” These two categories essentially straddle the United States’ LLW inventory, for which disposal facilities are in operation, and high-level nuclear waste (HLW) inventory, for which no disposal capability exists. GTCC nuclear waste is produced by multiple sources: commercial nuclear power plants, medical procedures, industrial and research activities, and Department of Energy (DOE) missions, including those related to national security and the cleanup of legacy facilities. These activities carry with them an ethical responsibility to dispose of the nuclear waste they generate rather than pass it on to the next generation. Security task forces have also identified the lack of a disposal pathway for sealed sources of GTCC nuclear waste as a concern, given the potential for its theft and use in a dispersal device. This report, part of a series of publications on nuclear waste policy at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University SIPA, explores the history of DOE, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and state efforts to develop disposal capabilities for GTCC and GTCC-like inventories. It explains why this gap merits greater attention from policymakers now and identifies measures Congress, the DOE, and the NRC could take, should they decide to address it. US government efforts to develop disposal capabilities for GTCC waste date back to 1985 when Congress made it a federal responsibility. For a time, disposal in the planned repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was contemplated. But in the absence of appropriations to move that project forward since 2010, the federal government recently issued planning documents that identify generic commercial LLW disposal facilities and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) deep geologic repository in New Mexico as preferred alternatives. Of the commercial LLW disposal facilities in operation, only the WCS facility in Texas has expressed interest in the GTCC disposal mission. The political climate for GTCC disposal in both New Mexico and Texas has darkened in recent years, though, casting doubt on the federal government’s plans. If the US government decides to prioritize the goal of establishing disposal capability for GTCC and GTCC-like nuclear waste, Congress, the DOE, and the NRC could take the following steps to help realize it in the near term.
Topic:: Regulation, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Energy, and Energy
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

460. Outlook for Pending Generation in the PJM Interconnection Queue

Author:: Abraham Silverman, Zachary A. Wendling, and Kavyaa Rizal
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: The United States is witnessing rapidly growing interest in clean electricity generation, driven by soaring consumer demand for clean energy and the country’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In parallel, the time it takes for new, clean generation projects to move from design to execution in the US has lengthened, meaning that the rising interest has not been matched by supply. The country’s largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection (PJM), has experienced the most severe delays and backlog in new generation—projects entering the queue today have little chance of coming online before 2030. It is widely understood that an increasingly lengthy interconnection process, which involves a series of studies and upgrades grid operators must take to ensure projects can connect to the grid safely and reliably, is responsible for this state of affairs. It is not clear how this longer process interacts with other known project development challenges—such as siting and permitting issues, supply chain constraints, and inflationary pressures—and to what extent such interactions may lengthen the timeline for bringing projects online. Understanding these dynamics can help answer critical questions about grid reliability going forward, including whether it will be necessary to delay or cancel the planned retirement of aging fossil fuel-fired generation resources that the new generation is intended to replace. This report attempts to fill this knowledge gap. It presents results of an author-developed survey of those best positioned to understand the impacts of interconnection process delays: project developers in the PJM market. The key finding from the survey is that PJM’s increasingly lengthy interconnection process is exacerbating siting and permitting challenges and leading to knock-on delays in equipment procurement and financing decisions, suggesting the timeline for new generation in this market will likely remain long for the foreseeable future. Given the importance of new entry to keeping prices competitive and maintaining reliability amid the retirement of older fossil resources, PJM will need to find ways to reduce interconnection delays or reconsider when those fossil resources should be retired.
Topic:: Electricity, Carbon Emissions, Connectivity, and Inflation Reduction Act
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

461. A Quantitative Analysis of Variables Affecting Power Transmission Infrastructure Projects in the US

Author:: Lewis (Zhaoyu) Wu, Abraham Silverman, and Harrison Fell
Publication Date:: 04-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: Upgrading the US electric grid is vital to a successful energy transition. Transmission expansion lowers electricity costs for consumers; speeds deployment of new generation resources; provides economic opportunities for communities; increases system reliability, particularly in the face of extreme weather events; and enables large-scale transfers of power from areas of the country with high renewable energy potential to customers. But experience over the past twenty years has shown that new transmission projects often face extensive delays, impeding or even denying these potential benefits to consumers and communities. In response, policymakers at the state and federal level are considering reforms to transmission finance, cost allocation, siting and permitting, advanced technologies, and other areas to help jumpstart the United States’ currently moribund transmission expansion processes. As part of this process, policymakers and other stakeholders are debating the merits of various transmission planning policies in terms of project success, but the impact of specific variables can be hard to quantify. This can lead stakeholders to rely largely on anecdotal or qualitative arguments to support their positions. The wide variation in the way utilities are regulated and transmission planning processes are implemented across the United States further compounds the difficulty of evaluating the relative effectiveness of different transmission planning policies. This report, a joint project of the Non-Technical Barriers to the Clean Energy Transition Initiative and the Energy Systems Modeling and Analytic Platform at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University SIPA, applies a data-driven approach to this policy debate. Using statistical analysis and machine learning models to analyze a dataset from the data company MAPSearch of planned transmission projects of at least 100 kilovolts (kV) conceived between 2005 and 2023, which includes more than 1,300 transmission projects, the report provides a systematic assessment of the impact of key variables on the likelihood that a proposed transmission line will actually be built. The results of this assessment can help those interested in expanding transmission infrastructure understand which variables may be worth prioritizing in a particular geographical area or region, given its unique combination of attributes, needs, and challenges.
Topic:: Infrastructure, Energy Sector, and Transmission
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

462. Health Care for Women: How the U.S. Compares Internationally

Author:: Munira Z. Gunja, Relebohile Masitha, and Laurie Zephyrin
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: Recently released federal data once again show the United States with by far the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation, despite a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Racial disparities are also extreme: Black women in the U.S. are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women are. But maternal deaths and complications may be an indicator of the nation’s wider failures with respect to women’s health and health care. Compared to women in other high-income countries, American women have long had worse access to the health care they need. While the U.S. spends more on health care than other countries do, surveys regularly find that Americans avoid seeking care because of costs at the highest rates, even as the U.S. continues to lead in the prevalence of chronic disease.2 At the same time, limited access to primary care and inadequate coordination of health services are likely factors in the nation’s poor performance when it comes to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of diseases.3 In this brief, we compare selected measures of health care access and outcomes for women in high-income countries. We drew upon data from four sources: the Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 International Health Policy Survey of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which allowed us to analyze responses by race and ethnicity;4 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Vital Statistics System; the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Burden of Disease. The latter two data sets permitted us to show results on selected measures for five additional countries — Chile, Japan, Korea, Norway, and Sweden. (See “How We Conducted This Survey” for more details.)
Topic:: Women, Public Health, Healthcare System, and Life Expectancy
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and United States of America

463. Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System

Author:: David Blumenthal, Evan D. Gumas, Arnav Shah, Munira Z. Gunja, and Reginald D. Williams II
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: Goal: Compare health system performance in 10 countries, including the United States, to glean insights for U.S. improvement. Methods: Analysis of 70 health system performance measures in five areas: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health outcomes. Key Findings: The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between most countries are relatively small. The only clear outlier is the U.S., where health system performance is dramatically lower. Conclusion: The U.S. continues to be in a class by itself in the underperformance of its health care sector. While the other nine countries differ in the details of their systems and in their performance on domains, unlike the U.S., they all have found a way to meet their residents’ most basic health care needs, including universal coverage.
Topic:: Development, Public Health, Efficiency, and Healthcare System
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

464. Boosting Childhood Vaccination Rates Post-Pandemic: Lessons from Five Countries

Author:: Irene Papanicolas, Robert A. Berenson, and Laura Skopec
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: Issue: Childhood vaccination rates fell worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, reductions in childhood vaccination were not universal, which may be related to differences in vaccine eligibility, vaccine hesitancy, and vaccine administration programs across countries. Goals: Explore how childhood vaccination rates changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in five high-income countries with varying approaches to vaccine policy. Methods: Surveys of in-country experts and analysis of secondary data sources in Australia, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Key Findings and Conclusion: While vaccination rates fell worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, the high-income countries in our study maintained high childhood vaccination rates for polio and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) near or above the herd immunity threshold (80% for polio and 95% for measles). Australia and Singapore, which have the strictest vaccine requirements, boasted the highest polio vaccination rates in both 2018 and 2021. No countries require the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination nationwide, but Australia, Singapore, and the U.K. have school-based HPV vaccination programs and high vaccination rates. Strong vaccine requirements, combined with school-based immunization or catch-up programs, may help boost childhood vaccination rates where they lagged during the pandemic.
Topic:: Children, Vaccine, COVID-19, and Healthcare System
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and United States of America

465. Finger on the Pulse: The State of Primary Care in the U.S. and Nine Other Countries

Author:: Evan D. Gumas, Corinne Lewis, Celli Horstman, and Munira Z. Gunja
Publication Date:: 03-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: For many people, primary care is their first point of contact with the health system, and decades of evidence shows it is critical for population health, health equity, and the overall efficiency of health care systems.1 Primary care is also uniquely positioned to screen for social needs and provide integrated behavioral health services.2 Ensuring people have access to high-quality, comprehensive primary care is vital to good health outcomes and positive experiences with the health system at large. Despite the importance of primary care, health systems around the world are facing challenges at the patient and provider level. Many countries struggle to ensure access to care, or first contact; continuity of care; comprehensiveness of care; and coordination of care. These four core components of high-quality primary care are essential to better overall health outcomes.3 Factors like workforce shortages, physician burnout, and dwindling access for patients, driven in part by underinvestment and growing administrative burdens, pose significant barriers to care.4 To better understand how patient care can be improved in a changing primary care landscape, this brief compares the state of primary care in the United States with nine other high-income nations. It updates an earlier Commonwealth Fund study comparing primary care performance in the U.S. with nine peer countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Our data come from the Commonwealth Fund’s 2022 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians and the 2023 International Health Policy Survey of adults age 18 and older. The 2022 and 2023 surveys asked different questions of the participating physicians and responding adults, so this edition includes new measures on access to telehealth, preparedness to treat behavioral health conditions, and care coordination. For more details on our methods, see “How We Conducted This Study.”
Topic:: Equity, Primary Care, and Healthcare System
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, North America, Sweden, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United States of America

466. Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison

Author:: Munira Z. Gunja, Evan D. Gumas, Relebohile Masitha, and Laurie Zephyrin
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: The United States continues to have the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation, despite a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. And within the U.S., the rate is by far the highest for Black women. Most of these deaths — over 80 percent — are likely preventable.1 With policies and systems in place to support women during the perinatal period, several high-income countries report virtually no maternal deaths. As policymakers and health care delivery system leaders in the U.S. seek ways to end the nation’s maternal mortality crisis, these countries may offer viable solutions. This brief updates an earlier Commonwealth Fund study of differences in maternal mortality, maternal care workforce composition, and access to postpartum care and social protections between the U.S. and other high-income countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.2 In this edition, we have also included data on Chile, Japan, and Korea — all high-income countries with universal health care systems. For our analysis, we used the most recently available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which the U.S. is a member. Where country-specific data are more than five years old, we note whether more recent published data from other sources are available for that country. Readers should be aware that because the methods we used to derive updated numbers from other sources may be different from methods the OECD uses, data points may not be comparable to the U.S. rates. For complete details on our methods, see “How We Conducted This Study.”
Topic:: Development, Inequality, Public Health, and Maternal Mortality
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, France, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, North America, Sweden, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United States of America

467. Hospital Global Budgeting: Lessons from Maryland and Selected Nations

Author:: Bob Atlas
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:: Issue: Maryland has utilized hospital global budgeting for a decade, but the approach is rarely used elsewhere in this country. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now hopes to test global budgeting in more states to help scale up this form of cost containment. Goals: Examine the ways Maryland, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway employ hospital global budgeting and the lessons they offer to those hoping to see wider adoption in the United States. Methods: Analysis of the various health systems and expert interviews. Key Findings and Conclusion: Maryland and the four selected countries vary significantly in their approaches to hospital global budgeting. With its previous experience using price controls and current global budgeting approach, Maryland has succeeded in holding hospital spending growth steady for nearly a decade. While Norway combines fixed and variable payments to support global budgeting, the Netherlands and Canada’s province of Ontario are moving away from global budgeting in favor of other approaches. Meanwhile, New Zealand has added multiyear rolling forecasts and budgets to support its own model. Future approaches in the U.S. could prove more effective by factoring in the complexities, conflicting incentives, and potential unintended consequences of global budgeting.
Topic:: Public Health, Healthcare System, and Budgeting
Political Geography:: Canada, Maryland, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United States of America

468. Digital legislation: convergence or divergence of models? A comparative look at the European Union, China and the United States

Author:: Aifang Ma
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:: In 1964, when the Canadian pioneer of media studies, Marshall McLuhan, argued that media is an extension of man, he did not foresee that future media, at the beginning of the 21st century, would produce increasingly pernicious effects[1]. While media have indeed extended human capacities, they have also shown to be generators of complicated social and ethical problems. In the same year philosopher, Herbert Marcuse, who analysed relations between Man and Machine from a deeply pessimistic viewpoint. His predictions seem to be corroborated by what we are now experiencing: the easy life made possible by technological progress has progressively gnawed into the individual critical reasoning. Instead of imposing their control over technologies, human beings are increasingly at their mercy. The domination of technology over individuals is all the stronger, since it seems harmless and is pleasant to use. In this context, the regulation of digital technologies[2] is flourishing in autocracies and democracies alike. Its importance goes far beyond the need of authoritarian regimes to cut off the transmission of destabilising content. It is universal since digital technologies set common challenges to national governments: illegal collection of users’ personal data, precarious working conditions for gig workers, monopolistic practices of large platforms, threats to human dignity and domestic security. These problems are causing trouble to all governments around the world. This article aims to be pragmatic. Beyond differences in political regime, it studies the regulatory approaches of the three largest digital economies in the world: China, the United States, and the European Union. The three models can potentially hinder or stimulate the development of digital technologies without necessarily opposing each other.
Topic:: European Union, Media, Legislation, and Digital Policy
Political Geography:: China, Europe, Asia, North America, and United States of America

469. The European Union between the United States and China: should we choose between equidistance and following?

Author:: Philippe Etienne
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:: The competition between the world's two major powers structures all international relations and influences the choices made by all other countries. The latter fear the consequences of tensions between the two giants and, in the main, want to avoid having to choose. But the problem is not the same everywhere. To put it simply, China benefits in the "global South" from a certain hostility towards the West, while the United States can play on the fear aroused by the emergence of Chinese power, which no longer hesitates to resort to power relations, especially in Eastern Asia[1]. Against this backdrop, Europe is in a delicate situation. It must contend with its assimilation to the United States as being part of the “West” which is increasingly rejected. Although it shares much with its American ally, particularly the values of democracy and security arrangements, it does not always have the same interests as the United States and must preserve its room for manoeuvre if it is not to be dragged into decisions in which it has no part. Before examining how the European Union is facing up to this challenge, and how it should behave in the future, the driving forces and prospects of the Sino-American rivalry require exploration.
Topic:: International Relations, Globalization, European Union, Global South, and Rivalry
Political Geography:: China, Europe, Asia, North America, and United States of America

470. Investigating the Effect of the U.S. Semiconductor Export Controls on China

Author:: Hyok Jung Kim, Jonghyuk Oh, and Hyuk Hu Kwon
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:: his report examines the significant impact of U.S. semiconductor export controls imposed under the Biden administration in October 2022. These controls, which target a broad range of semiconductor manufacturing facilities and AI chips, are part of a strategy aimed at curbing China’s advancement in critical technologies. A notable 32.5% decline in China’s imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment has been observed, particularly in regions with advanced production capabilities and foreign company operations, such as those involving Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. While Korea experienced substantial drops in exports to China, the Netherlands saw an increase, reflecting its dominance in specific technologies like lithography. The AI chip sector has also been affected, with China turning to downgraded chips due to restricted access to high-performance models from companies like Nvidia. South Korea must adapt by strengthening its upstream semiconductor industry, considering reshoring production, and collaborating with international partners to mitigate risks. As U.S. export controls continue to evolve, the global semiconductor industry may face increased fragmentation, making strategic responses from affected nations essential to maintain competitiveness. Additionally, ongoing monitoring and adaptation to the dynamic regulatory environment shaped by these export controls are crucial.
Topic:: Economics, Science and Technology, Exports, Artificial Intelligence, Imports, and Semiconductors
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

471. Export Controls Game: Rethinking Global Integration

Author:: Sangjun Yea
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:: The article discusses how geopolitical interests are influencing trade policies and global supply chains, leading to a reevaluation of international relationships. The U.S. and China are specifically highlighted, with the U.S. implementing export controls on semiconductors to prevent China's military advancement, while China responds with its own export restrictions on essential raw materials. Using a game-theoretic model, the study illustrates how countries use export control measures to balance security interests and economic benefits, ultimately impacting the global semiconductor supply chain and production decisions of multinational corporations.
Topic:: Exports, Trade Policy, Economic Integration, Supply Chains, and Semiconductors
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

472. Developing an International Macroeconomic Forecasting Model Based on Big Data

Author:: Sang-Ha Yoon
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:: In the era of big data, economists are exploring new data sources and methodologies to improve economic forecasting. This study examines the potential of big data and machine learning in enhancing the predictive power of international macroeconomic forecasting models. The research utilizes both structured and unstructured data to forecast Korea's GDP growth rate. For structured data, around 200 macroeconomic and financial indicators from Korea and the U.S. were used with machine learning techniques (Random Forest, XGBoost, LSTM) and ensemble models. Results show that machine learning generally outperforms traditional econometric models, particularly for one-quarter-ahead forecasts, although performance varies by country and period. For unstructured data, the study uses Naver search data as a proxy for public sentiment. Using Dynamic Model Averaging and Selection (DMA and DMS) techniques, it incorporates eight Naver search indices alongside traditional macroeconomic variables. The findings suggest that online search data improves predictive power, especially in capturing economic turning points. The study also compares these big data-driven models with a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model. While DSGE offers policy analysis capabilities, its in-sample forecasts make direct comparison difficult. However, DMA and DMS models using search indices seem to better capture the GDP plunge in 2020. Based on the research findings, the author offers several suggestions to maximize the potential of big data. He stresses the importance of discovering and constructing diverse data sources, while also developing new analytical techniques such as machine learning. Furthermore, he suggests that big data models can be used as auxiliary indicators to complement existing forecasting models, and proposes that combining structural models with big data methodologies could create synergistic effects. Lastly, by using text mining on various online sources to build comprehensive databases, we can secure richer and more real-time economic data. These suggestions demonstrate the significant potential of big data in improving the accuracy of international macroeconomic forecasting, particularly emphasizing its effectiveness in situations where the economy is undergoing rapid changes.
Topic:: GDP, Economic Growth, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:: Asia, South Korea, and United States of America

473. The Role of America’s European Allies in the Russia-Ukraine War, 2022–24

Author:: John R. Deni and Lisa A. Aronsson
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: What more can US allies in Europe do to assist Ukraine militarily? More broadly, what can the United States expect from its closest allies in Europe in strategic competition with Russia and China? In this monograph, John R. Deni and Lisa A. Aronsson assess whether US allies and partners in Europe can continue providing military assistance to Ukraine or expand assistance, while preserving their own national security and fulfilling their NATO commitments. They also explore what the Russia-Ukraine War reveals about the role of European allies in future iterations of strategic competition. Their findings indicate European allies remain firmly in support of assisting Ukraine politically, even if the reasons for allied support vary across Europe. Despite agreeing support is necessary, European allies face several hurdles on the path toward scaling up military assistance to Ukraine. The reasons for the hurdles vary, and some exceptions exist, but Deni and Aronsson find without continued, sustained US engagement, leadership, and presence in Europe, Washington may find itself with few European allies by its side. To facilitate and sustain continued success in transatlantic burden sharing, the authors provide several practical recommendations for US policymakers to consider.
Topic:: NATO, Military Aid, Allies, Russia-Ukraine War, Security Cooperation, and Burden Sharing
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Ukraine, North America, and United States of America

474. Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson Jr.: Central Pacific Theater Army Commander for Admiral Chester W. Nimitz 1943–45

Author:: James D. Scudieri
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: This monograph analyzes Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson Jr.’s service as de facto theater Army commander to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from August 1943 to June 1945. It focuses on the theater-strategic level when Richardson led US Army Forces in Central Pacific Area and US Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas. This study highlights the context of Richardson’s operating environment beginning with prewar plans, the realities of early wartime defeats, and the state of joint operating procedures. It assesses Richardson’s accomplishments in exercising Landpower in the Pacific, across the entire range of today’s Army war-fighting and Joint functions and discusses the implications of posturing for large-scale combat operations in competition, crisis, and conflict. These assessments are relevant to US Army Pacific today in its four current roles of Theater Joint Force Land Component Command, Combined Joint Task Force, Combined Joint Force Land Component Command, and Army Service Component Command.
Topic:: History, World War II, Military, and Robert C. Richardson Jr.
Political Geography:: North America, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America

475. Spring 2024 edition of Strategic Visions

Author:: Joseph Johnson, Alan McPherson, and Andrew Santora
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Strategic Visions
Institution:: Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University
Abstract:: Contents News from the Director……… 2 Note from the Davis Fellow…. 7 News from the Community…. 8 Research Reports….. 11 Checking in with the CENFAD Emerging Scholar…. 13 CENFAD Community Interviews Dr. Michael Brenes……. 15 Dr. Stephanie Freeman…… 20 Retrospective: The “All Roads Lead to Gettysburg Conference”….. 26 Book Reviews The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas by Helen Roche, reviewed by Andrew Santora …………………….. 30
Topic:: History, Book Review, Higher Education, Interview, and Use of Force
Political Geography:: Europe, Global Focus, and United States of America

476. Fall 2024 edition of Strategic Visions

Author:: Alan McPherson, Grace Anne Parker, Sophía Valdes, Aaron Gell, Nikolas Gvosdev, Andrew Santora, and Jake Wolff
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Strategic Visions
Institution:: Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University
Abstract:: This issue of Strategic Visions, Volume 24, Issue 1 (Fall 2024), features the usual "News from the Director" and "Note from the Davis Fellow" sections, in which we reflect on this past semester’s colloquium series. Additionally, we are excited to share interviews with Aaron Gell, a journalist for The New Republic, who discusses campus protests related to Gaza, and Dr. Nikolas Gvosdev, Professor of Naval Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, who provides insights into foreign policy in President-Elect Trump’s second term. Sofía Valdes wrote a piece about her research which won her the 2024 Edwin H. Sherman Prize last semester. Two of our graduate students, Andrew Santora and Jake Wolff, have contributed pieces detailing their archival research, which has been supported in part by CENFAD. Additionally, PhD candidate Audrey Rankin offers a review of Kathleen Murphy's Captivity's Collections: Science, Natural History, and the British Transatlantic Slave Trade (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2023).
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Protests, Higher Education, Donald Trump, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: United States of America

477. Red Sea Attacks and the International Response: An International Law Insight

Author:: Efthymios Papastavridis
Publication Date:: 01-2024
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:: The ongoing crisis in the Red Sea, involving attacks by the Houthis to international shipping in the region as well as forcible measures by the US and its allies against Houthis’ targets in Yemen, entails a host of legal, political, financial challenges to the international community, as evinced, amongst others, by the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2272 on 10th January 2024. Amongst others, it is evident that it gives rise to important questions under international law, including on the legal classification of the attacks in question and the legality of the measures that third States are taking. It is the purpose of this Insight to address these questions under international law. In so doing, the Insight avers that the proper qualification of the current situation in terms of the law of armed conflict is that of a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) between Yemen and other States, including the US, and a non-state armed group, the Houthis. Under international law, Houthis’ attacks, depending on the means and against whom they have been committed, can be classified as: i) acts of piracy; ii) acts regulated by the laws governing NIACs at sea; and iii) acts of ‘maritime terrorism’, or more aptly, acts falling under the scope of the 1988 SUA Convention. Accordingly, States fighting Houthis and protecting the safety of navigation in the Red Sea may indeed take many measures in accordance with international law, including the UNCLOS Articles 105 and 110 vis-à-vis acts of piracy, or Article 92 in respect of the protection of vessels flying their flags, as well as the laws governing NIAC at sea, as applicable to the parties to the conflict in question.
Topic:: International Law, Trade, Houthis, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: Yemen, United States of America, and Red Sea

478. Negotiating Africa’s Digital Partnerships amid Geopolitical Competition

Author:: Folashadé Soulé
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:: Rising geopolitical tensions among China, the United States and other major powers are making digital partnership negotiations between African stakeholders and these global actors more complex. China is becoming an increasingly popular choice among African states because the country typically offers more affordable technology options to achieve digital development goals than its Western counterparts. Negotiating Africa’s Digital Partnerships — a policy research project supported by the Centre for International Governance Innovation and hosted at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford — looks at how these partnerships are formed as African governmental actors seek new and rising partners to help build their digital capacity. The project involves interviews with African ministers, policy makers, the private sector, and civil society actors from both francophone and anglophone Africa with a focus on digital connectivity, infrastructure, digital sovereignty, norm-setting and governance issues.
Topic:: Geopolitics, Competition, Digital Partnerships, and Digital Governance
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and United States of America

479. Peaceful Families: American Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence with Juliane Hammer

Author:: Juliane Hammer and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 10-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) invites Professor Juliane Hammer (https://religion.unc.edu/_people/full...) to discuss her book Peaceful Families: American Muslim Efforts against Domestic Violence (https://press.princeton.edu/books/har...) that addresses how Muslim advocacy work against domestic abuse is embedded in and challenged by systems of anti-Muslim hostility and racism while also having to contend with changing notions of gender norms and practices. Based on ethnographic research and textual analysis, Professor Hammer offers an intersectional analysis of how Muslim advocates respond to these challenges both within and outside of the Muslim communities they serve.
Topic:: Ethnography, Intersectionality, Racism, Domestic Violence, Gender Norms, and Muslims
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

480. Muslims of the Heartland with Edward Curtis IV (Episode 17)

Author:: Edward IV Curtis
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: What legal and extra-legal challenges did Ottoman Syrian Muslim immigrants face when they immigrated to the American Midwest before World War I? What opportunities did they have? Join our host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) in her discussion with Professor Edward Curtis (https://edward-curtis.com/biography/) to learn how these Midwesterners built their communal power, creating a life that was American, Arab, and Muslim all at the same time.
Topic:: History, Immigration, and Muslims
Political Geography:: Middle East, North America, United States of America, and Ottoman Empire

481. Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion with Professor Evelyn Alsultany

Author:: Evelyn Alsultany
Publication Date:: 09-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Amid pervasive institutionalized Islamophobia, diversity initiatives in universities and workplaces have failed on their promise to be inclusive of Muslims. Professor Evelyn Alsultany offers a critical examination of recent initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion at universities during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Topic:: Islamophobia, Diversity, Higher Education, Inclusion, Muslims, and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

482. Abortion, Religion and Race in Post-Roe America with Asifa Quraishi (Episode 15)

Author:: Asifa Quraishi and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The U.S. Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade has rightfully triggered a national debate about the role of religion in lawmaking, women's rights to control their reproductive health, and the racially disparate impact of state prohibitions on abortion. Join our host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) and legal scholars Asifa Quraishi-Landes (https://law.wisc.edu/profiles/aqurais...) , and Cynthia Soohoo (https://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/cl...) on the legal, political, and social implications of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
Topic:: Race, Religion, Women, Reproductive Rights, Abortion, and Roe v. Wade
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

483. Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition with SpearIt (Episode 14)

Author:: SpearIt
Publication Date:: 08-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Since the early 1960s, incarcerated Muslims have used legal action to establish their rights to religious freedom and improve their conditions behind bars – ultimately safeguarding the civil rights not only of imprisoned Muslims but all people who are confined in a carceral setting. In this episode, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor SpearIt (https://www.law.pitt.edu/people/SpearIt) discusses his book “Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition (https://www.ucpress.edu/book/97805203...) .”
Topic:: Prisons/Penal Systems, Civil Rights, Incarceration, and Muslims
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

484. Coming to Understand Latino Anti-Black Bias with Tanya K Hernandez (Episode 13)

Author:: Tanya K. Hernandez
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: It is possible for a historically marginalized group to experience discrimination and to also be discriminatory. Understanding the hard truth of Latino anti-Black bias is critical for fostering a multiracial democracy. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) discusses these issues with “Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality (https://www.akpress.org/racial-innoce...) ” author and Fordham School of Law Professor Tanya Katerí Hernández (https://www.fordham.edu/school-of-law...) .
Topic:: Race, Democracy, Civil Rights, Latinos, Anti-Blackness, and Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

485. Protecting Academic Freedom, Empowering Muslim Students (Episode 12)

Author:: Tamara Sears and Asifa Quraishi-Landes
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Academic freedom, equity, Islamophobia, and the commercialization of higher education offer challenges to faculty nationwide. In a telling incident, Black Muslim students of Hamline University complained of Islamophobic incidents on campus while also taking offense at the showing of a famous Persian painting of the Prophet Mohammed in a global art history class. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) discusses these issues with Rutgers Art History Professor Tamara Sears (https://history.rutgers.edu/people/fa...) and University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School Professor Asifa Quraishi-Landes (https://law.wisc.edu/profiles/asifa.q...) .
Topic:: Islamophobia, Higher Education, Equity, Academic Freedom, and Muslims
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

486. Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law with Natsu Taylor Saito (Episode 11)

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Natsu Taylor Saito
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Racialized disparities continue to persist in the United States and are unlikely to be effectively alleviated by the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. A recent book provides a functional analysis linking disparate forms of oppression and makes the case that structural racism will be more effectively dismantled by contesting ongoing settler colonization and supporting the right of all peoples to self-determination. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with “Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists (https://nyupress.org/9780814723944/se...) , “ author and Georgia State College of Law Professor Natsu Taylor Saito (https://law.gsu.edu/profile/natsu-tay...) .
Topic:: Imperialism, Race, Law, Settler Colonialism, Self-Determination, and Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

487. Islam in Liberalism with Joseph Massad (Episode 10)

Author:: Joseph Massad and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: American anxieties about intolerance, misogyny, and tyranny are projected onto Islam as part of the broader European use of Islam as a foil in Western liberalism. A recent book contextualizes this trend within recent efforts by the western world to proselytize liberalism as the only valid and sane worldview to Muslim-majority nations and references a rich historical record of Christian and liberal discourses revealing such attempts to cure Muslims of their supposed illiberal ways. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with “Islam in Liberalism (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/...) ” author and Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad (https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-d...) .
Topic:: Islam, Islamophobia, Liberalism, and Intolerance
Political Geography:: Europe and United States of America

488. Muslim Contributions to American Prosperity with Dalia Mogahed (Episode 9)

Author:: Sahar Aziz and Dalia Mogahed
Publication Date:: 06-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Muslims have long been central in America’s political discourse, policy debates and popular culture. Yet most Americans say they don’t even know a Muslim and more than 80% of media coverage of Islam and Muslims in the United States is negative. This week’s episode discusses the myriad ways in which Muslims contribute to economic development, medicine, philanthropy, arts, entertainment, sports, and education in the United States. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) addresses these issues with scholar Dalia Mogahed (https://www.ispu.org/scholars/daliamo...) .
Topic:: Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Economic Development, and Muslims
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

489. White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America with Khyati Joshi (Episo...

Author:: Khyati Joshi and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Christianity has wielded significant influence on the American experiment from before the founding of the republic to the social movements of today. A recent book, “White Christian Privilege (https://khyatijoshi.com/book/white-ch...) : The Illusion of Religious Equality in America,” maps centuries of slavery, westward expansion, immigration, and citizenship laws to show how Christianity in the United States has always been entangled with notions of white supremacy. Host Sahar Aziz discusses this issue with author Dr. Khyati Joshi (https://www.khyatijoshi.com/) .
Topic:: Religion, History, Christianity, White Supremacy, Equality, Racism, and Christian Nationalism
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

490. Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians with Khaled Elgindy (Episode 21)

Author:: Khaled Elgindy and Sahar Aziz
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Israel has effectively blinded it to the most detrimental factors to the dissolution of the peace-brokering process, most notably the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian sovereignty and the legitimacy of international human rights law. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/) will discuss these complex dynamics with author and political scientist Khaled Elgindy by decentering a unilateral perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a socio-historical lens.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Sovereignty, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

491. Antisemitism and Palestinian Genocide: A Conversation with Raz Segal

Author:: Raz Segal
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:: Dr. Raz Segal traces the emergence of antisemitism as a modern phenomenon tied to the nation-state and the late colonial world and its settler outposts. The struggle against antisemitism from the late 19th century, therefore, focused on protecting a group from exclusionary and violent states. The weaponization of this struggle as an Israeli state project since the 1990s shifted the focus away from a group, Jews, to protecting the state from criticism of its settler colonialism and violence against a people, Palestinians. This weaponization has intensified markedly since October 2023 in the context of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, and on university campuses across the US, supporters of Israel use it to silence, intimidate, harass, expel, and fire Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and increasingly more also anti-Zionist Jewish faculty members and students. The weaponization of the struggle against antisemitism is, therefore, an expression of anti-Palestinian racism, which also puts Jews and others at risk.
Topic:: Genocide, Settler Colonialism, Universities, and Antisemitism
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

492. Elections Aftermath, Session III: China, Taiwan, and the U.S.-Japan Alliance After the Elections

Author:: Andrew J. Nathan, Thomas Christensen, Satoru Mori, Ayumi Teraoka, and George Miller
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: In the third panel of the full-day conference co-sponsored by Columbia University and Keio University, authorities on East Asian and global politics delve into the challenges and opportunities arising from leadership transitions in both Tokyo and Washington and how the two allies can address security challenges surrounding the Taiwan Strait. (Please note: This is a partial video edited in accordance with speaker preferences.) Speakers: Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University Thomas Christensen, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations, Columbia University Satoru Mori, Professor, Faculty of Law, Keio University Ayumi Teraoka, Postdoctoral Research Scholar and Lecturer, Columbia University George Miller, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and Adjunct Professor, Columbia’s Journalism School (moderator)
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Elections, and Alliance
Political Geography:: Japan, China, Taiwan, and United States of America

493. North Korea Since the 1990s and U.S.-North Korea Relations: Problems and Prospects

Author:: Haksoon Paik and Arvid Lukauskas
Publication Date:: 11-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Speaker: Haksoon Paik, President of the Academy of Kim Dae-jung Studies Moderator: Arvid Lukauskas, Executive Director, Picker Center for Executive Education and MPA in Economic Policy Management, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University This talk examines the strategic significance of North Korea and the Korean Peninsula for the United States and the world. It then discusses North Korea's political and economic landscape since the early 1990s, focusing on current developments. The talk highlights North Korea's security and foreign policies, emphasizing: (1) its strategy of survival and development for the 21st century, and (2) U.S.-North Korea relations, with a particular focus on nuclear and ballistic missile issues. It also reviews what happened at the Hanoi summit and the deep disillusionment among key stakeholders engaged in Korean Peninsula affairs following the failed Hanoi summit. The discussion then shifts to North Korea's recent alignment with Russia post-Hanoi, examining the implications of its mutual defense treaty with Russia for the Korean Peninsula, the Russia-Ukraine War, and broader regional and global politics. The talk considers the possibility of a renewed Cold War dynamic due to the geopolitical alignments surrounding the Koreas (US-Japan-South Korea vs. China-Russia-North Korea) and the increased threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. Finally, it concludes by highlighting challenges and prospects for improvement. This event was hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, and Weapons
Political Geography:: Asia, North Korea, North America, and United States of America

494. Diplomatic Ties and Community Engagement: A Dialogue with U.S. Ambassadors

Author:: Edgard Kagan, Marc E. Knapper, Heather Roach Variava, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, and Ann Marie Murphy
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:: Speakers: The Honorable Edgard Kagan, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia The Honorable Marc E. Knapper, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam The Honorable Heather Roach Variava, U.S. Ambassador to Laos Moderators: Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Dorothy Borg Chair in the History of the United States and East Asia, Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University Ann Marie Murphy, Adjunct Senior Research Scholar; Professor and Director, Center for Foreign Policy Studies, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University Background: In the vibrant landscape of international education and cultural exchange, the connections between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are more significant than ever. Notably, almost 50,000 students from ASEAN member states enrich U.S. campuses with their perspectives, contributing to a rich tapestry of international dialogue. Furthermore, travel and tourism statistics from 2022 highlight the deepening of people-to-people ties, with nearly 578,000 visitors from ASEAN countries to the U.S. and almost 1.8 million Americans exploring the diverse cultures of ASEAN. Additionally, the vibrant Asian American community, with more than one-third of the estimated 24 million identifying with ASEAN ethnicities, underscores these regions' profound connections. Speakers' Bios: Edgard D. Kagan, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was most recently the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council. Ambassador Kagan has previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in New Delhi, India and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India, and Deputy Director of the Washington Office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. A recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Award and numerous other State Department performance awards, Ambassador Kagan speaks French, Mandarin Chinese, Hungarian, and some Spanish. He is a cum laude graduate of Yale University. Marc E. Knapper is a member of the Senior Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State and the Ambassador to Vietnam. He most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan from August 2018 to July 2021. Prior to assuming this position, Marc was Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in Seoul from 2017 to 2018 and Deputy Chief of Mission from 2015 to 2016. Earlier assignments include Director for India Affairs, Director for Japan Affairs, and Seoul, Baghdad, Tokyo, and Hanoi. Marc is a recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the nation’s highest diplomatic honor. Marc has also received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award and the Department of State’s Linguist of the Year Award. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and also studied at the University of Tokyo, Middlebury College’s intensive Japanese program, the Army War College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI program. Marc speaks Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Heather Variava was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on January 19, 2024. She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister Counselor. Previously, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Mission to Indonesia, and as U.S. Consul General in Surabaya, Indonesia. In Washington, Ambassador Variava was Director of the Office of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Bhutan in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. A member of the U.S. Foreign Service since 1996, Ambassador Variava has also served overseas in India, Mauritius, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Variava worked as a newspaper reporter in Waterville, Maine. Raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Ambassador Variava received an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Missouri and from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. In 2012, Ambassador Variava received a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College in Washington, D.C., and in 2014 she completed a fellowship in executive leadership with the International Women’s Forum (IWF). She is the recipient of numerous Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as a Presidential Rank Award. She speaks Indonesian and has studied Vietnamese, French, and German. This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by the New York Southeast Asian Network (NYSEAN).
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, ASEAN, and Community Engagement
Political Geography:: Asia and United States of America

495. Strategic Change in U.S. Foreign Policy

Author:: Christopher S. Chivvis, Jennifer Kavanagh, Sahil Lauji, Adele Malle, Samuel Orloff, Stephen Wertheim, and Reid Wilcox
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: Making strategic changes in foreign policy is difficult for the United States. Consider, for example, the challenges that former president Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden faced in their administrations’ efforts to withdraw U.S. military forces from Afghanistan. Despite years of failing efforts to bring peace and stability to that country, and limited evidence that much improvement would come without a major reorientation of the U.S. approach, resistance to changing course was enormous. It took an outsider, Donald Trump, to set the process in motion and a long-time insider, Joe Biden, to finish it. The early 1970s U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, which very few would criticize today, also took several years, even after a huge protest movement at home and abroad demanded it. For strategic change to materialize, the election of a president who wants change is necessary but not sufficient. Trump’s effort to put America’s global role on a new course, whatever its strengths and weaknesses, is a case in point. In areas where his ideas challenged received wisdom in the Republican Party, Congress, or the national security bureaucracy, he was stymied. Only where Trump pursued goals already favored by important groups in the foreign policy establishment did he get results. For example, he was able to tear up the Iran nuclear deal because this action had long-standing and deep support among Republican leaders, but he failed to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria because few others agreed. Trump’s approach to foreign policy generated immense drama but limited change in America’s role in the world. Regardless of whether one thinks this outcome was for better or worse, it is testimony to the power of continuity in U.S. foreign policy.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, History, Donald Trump, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

496. Political Drivers of China’s Changing Nuclear Policy: Implications for U.S.-China Nuclear Relations and International Security

Author:: Tong Zhao
Publication Date:: 07-2024
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The message from Chinese officials has become increasingly clear: the United States and China should first stabilize their political relationship before taking on nuclear issues.
Topic:: Nuclear Weapons, International Security, Bilateral Relations, and Decision-Making
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and United States of America

497. Time to Reset the U.S. Trade Agenda

Author:: Peter Harrell
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The strongest argument for rebooting U.S. trade policy ultimately may not be geopolitics, nor even the economic argument that trade deals will help an already-strong U.S economy. Instead, the best argument is that trade is a key element of solving global challenges that affect us all, like the green energy transition and the risks of AI and the digital economy.
Topic:: Treaties and Agreements, Geopolitics, Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence, Trade Policy, and Green Transition
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

498. Inevitable Fractures: The Ukraine War and the Global System

Author:: Ashley J. Tellis
Publication Date:: 05-2024
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The divisions in contemporary geopolitics are an inevitable consequence of colliding ideas and interests against the backdrop of American primacy. The United States should accept their reality while advancing its own interests in a competitive strategic environment.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Strategic Competition, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Ukraine, North America, and United States of America

499. In the U.S. South, Latin American Diaspora Organizes for Palestinian Liberation

Author:: Álvaro José Mejía Arias, Roxana Bendezú, Ramón Mejía, Alyssah Roth, Alex Trejo, and Victor Urquiza
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: From Texas to North Carolina, Latine solidarity organizers connect the dots between U.S. imperialism in the Americas and Israel’s colonization of Palestine.
Topic:: Imperialism, Diaspora, Protests, Colonization, and Organizing
Political Geography:: Israel, Palestine, Latin America, and United States of America

500. The Campus Rebellion for Palestine

Author:: Conor Tomás Reed, Camila Azeñas, William Armando Hurtado Barrero, Ana González, and Camilo Godoy Pichón
Publication Date:: 12-2024
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Across the hemisphere, students demanded an end to the genocide in Gaza. How they navigated repression and resistance offers lessons for the solidarity movement.
Topic:: Genocide, Repression, Students, Universities, 2023 Gaza War, and Organizing
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and United States of America

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS