My morning routine usually takes me to Foreign Policy, whose online magazine’s phenomenal sampling of analysis and expert opinion keeps my World editor gears moving. Like any student of international affairs, I have taught myself to read these selections dispassionately—reserving special caution for the issues I expect to set me off. But on rare occasion, … Read more
A Player in Transition With immense wealth, a novel brand, and a distinctive foreign policy agenda, Qatar has emerged as a rising power in the Persian Gulf. Abetted by 13 percent of the world’s total natural gas reserves and the preeminence of its national news outlet, Al-Jazeera, Qatar has demonstrated a unique capacity for promulgating … Read more
With the closing of Camp Ashraf, one of the most remarkable untold stories of American involvement in Iraq is concluding. With support from the United States and United Nations, the Iraqi government has begun moving long-time residents of Ashraf, the Mujahedin e-Khalq in Iraq’s Diyala province, to another location called “Camp Liberty,” potentially the first … Read more
Most comparisons of President Obama’s prospects of reelection in 2012 and his 2008 campaign focus on factors that he now lacks. He has necessarily lost the novelty, the sense of history-in-the-making, and the image of being a blank slate upon which voters could project their visions of change. Statements about his strengths in the 2012 … Read more
In summer 2009, a new political force struck establishment politics when hundreds of thousands of self-proclaimed “Tea Partiers” descended on the National Mall. Prospects for President Obama’s healthcare legislation looked increasingly bleak, and Republicans nationwide trembled about the ascendancy of an alternative conservative third party. But, this former political juggernaut is slowly fading into the … Read more
In summer 2009, a new political force struck establishment politics when hundreds of thousands of self-proclaimed “Tea Partiers” descended on the National Mall. Prospects for President Obama’s healthcare legislation looked increasingly bleak, and Republicans nationwide trembled about the ascendancy of an alternative conservative third party. But, this former political juggernaut is slowly fading into the … Read more
“It’s all in the role of the dice. And it’s really tough for the states to control; states with volatile sources of income witnessed a revenue shock”, Kim Rueben of the Urban Institute told the HPR, regarding the recent recession’s impact. “It’s really been a question of who has done the least harm,” she added. … Read more
While cities have defined the way humans live and interact for millennia, social network theory (SNT) has changed the understanding of cities. SNT focuses on the interconnectivity of actors, whether on a personal or national level. Applying this theory to cities sheds light on the complexity of the urban environment. As Sergio Rey, professor at … Read more
Here at the HPR, Iran has been a hot topic of discussion lately. Below, Eric Hendey and Tom Lemberg offer their takes on the situation with Iran. Eric Hendey: Ignore the Election-Year Rhetoric An anonymous columnist from The Economist recently took on the voice of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a humorous blog post. In the piece, the Supreme … Read more
As a Chicago Bulls fan whose formative years coincided with the Jordan years, I love Steve Kerr. Playing basketball growing up, I was a short white kid who could shoot, so I naturally looked up to Kerr. He is up there with Reggie Miller and Ray Allen as one of the best pure shooters in … Read more