The defining issues of the 2016 election are already emerging with individuals indicating which issues prove most important to them. According to the spring 2015 Harvard Public Opinion Project poll, social issues and immigration appear to be the most crucial issues for young voters going into the 2016 election. Twenty-one percent of respondents stated that … Read more
Under President Obama’s America’s College Promise Proposal, students who maintain a 2.5 GPA while attending community college at least part time towards a degree will have their tuition waived. The White House estimates this program could benefit nine million students. According to the spring 2015 survey by the Harvard Public Opinion Project, a majority of … Read more
When news of the historic nuclear deal with Iran broke, it came as no surprise that reactions from politicians on the left and the right were varied. Democrats such as Hillary Clinton applauded the news with restraint, while Republicans have expressed mostly disapproval toward the proposed framework. Yet, surprisingly (or perhaps not), one of the … Read more
This past week, Iran and the United States, along with the United Nations Security Council and Germany, announced a preliminary agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program. The plan calls for inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities and a reduction in the number of Iranian centrifuges, reactors, and stockpiles of uranium and plutonium. It should extend the time necessary … Read more
For the first time, it looks like a deal will finally happen (or not, depending on whom you ask) between the P5+1 and Iran. Either way, this preliminary announcement marks a historic turning point in negotiations with conservative Islamist countries like Iran. The United States has been tightening its financial straightjacket on Iran since the fall … Read more
“The doctrine is we will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities.” – President Barack Obama. President Obama has maintained that the recent nuclear deal with Iran is indeed a good deal for the United States, and for now, that seems to be the case. The so-called “Obama Doctrine” for U.S.-Iran negotiations will ensure that the … Read more
Despite receiving a warm welcome last week in Tehran, the announced framework for a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran has an uncertain fate. Although mainstream media coverage has extensively analyzed the implications for Middle Eastern security, less discussed is the pivotal role of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, described as the “single most powerful institution in Iran,” in the deal’s … Read more
From the chants of “Death to America” during the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979 to the frequent tweets by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei, Iran has maintained a string of public anti-American rhetoric. However, despite this legacy, and the normally contentious nature of Iranian domestic politics, the recently released framework agreement has received significant … Read more
Will Iran’s ambitions to develop nuclear weapons persist in the next 10 to 15 years, or will they diminish into an afterthought due to regime change or Iranian moderation? The Obama administration, in its announcement of the framework agreement produced by the P5+1 and Iran on April 2, has based its policy on a belief in the … Read more
Anyone who’s taken an introductory psychology class knows about confirmation bias—the tendency that humans have to focus on evidence that confirms their existing views instead of evidence that disproves them. In her recent article, New York Times columnist Judith Shulevitz argues that college students fall into this trap and try to block out ideas that … Read more