Broadly speaking, the U.S. government has three sets of policy options available when it comes to creating a greener global economy. Far at one end is traditional regulation, that includes initiatives like mandated energy standards for washing machines and chirpy public education reminders to turn off the water when brushing teeth. At the opposing end […]
As you know, the U.S. is currently collaborating with other Security Council countries on the question of imposing some kind of sanctions on Iran over the nuclear issue. In international affairs, sanctions are most often imposed on countries that are antagonistic, which is why this report from the Voice of American stands out as noting […]
NAFSA: Association of International Educators released a report last month on visa and immigration reform.The report is titled “A Visa and Immigration Policy for the Brain Circulation Era: Adjusting to What Happened in the World While We Were Busy Making Other Plans” and is authored by Victor Johnson, a senior advisor for public policy at […]
On CNN yesterday, General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, told Christine Amanpour that in addition to diplomacy and sanctions, the US has developed contingency plans in order to deal with Iran’s refusal to curb its nuclear program. However, Petraeus was vague in his description and chose not to elaborate on the specifics of […]
Like many of you, this week for me has been a hectic week of post-holiday busyness and as I know that many of you are still digging out (both literally and figuratively) I thought I’d call your attention to two important speeches that deserve your attention when things settle down. The first speech (full text), […]
With the election of Andre Dawson to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I have been thinking about one way that I initially became interested in other cultures – through baseball. Let me explain: from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Dawson played for the Montreal Expos, a major league baseball team that existed from 1969 through […]
All the usual caveats about uncertainty assumed, here are 7 climate and energy trends we’re already seeing, that will pick up speed in to 2010: 1. We’ll get better at making reasonable distinctions between solutions that are politically, versus scientifically, versus economically possible. The current debate over whether carbon emissions should be reduced to 450 […]
Today U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech on development at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The full speech is available here. The speech gives an overview of how development should work in coordination with defense and diplomacy and offered some specific insights into the ongoing Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and […]
The above infographic, from Journalism.org, depicts the site’s 2009 weekly news summaries compiled from over 55 television, print, internet and radio news sources. The bigger the story, the bigger the block. See climate change anywhere? Or even general environmental issues? On both accounts, no. (Although depending on your science, the California fires come close). For […]
Last month Vivek Wadhwa had an interesting piece on U.S. brain drain in Yale Global Online. Wadhwa outlines the enormous contribution made by international graduate students, faculty and researchers (as measured by patent filings) in science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) disciplines – and to the U.S. economy overall. In 2006, immigrants contributed to 72 […]
“Because that’s where the money is” – Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks ——————————————————– The New York Times ran a story this past Sunday noting that some U.S. universities that set up operations in Dubai are having trouble attracting enough students. Apparently, the economic downturn there has hit Michigan State and the Rochester […]
The Foreign Policy Association has asked the blog team to write a special post in which we review the year in light of the specific focus of our blog. I’ve reviewed my past blog posts and the Twitter posts to try to get a sense of the year, to see what made an impression on […]
COP15 is over and Christmas is over which means I can spend some time digesting news that I ignored in December. Here are some of the lighter bits: While the United States begins mobilizing the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (“Climate REDI”), the uptake of renewable energies in developing countries is inching forward. Kenya-based Nomadic […]
The New York Times is reporting that three Malians have been arrested and charged with being part of an operation that smuggles drugs across West and North African routes into Europe. The money then goes to groups associated with Al Qaida, so the charge goes, and also involves “the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or […]
The year 2009 in public diplomacy was a year for re-branding America in the world. The first African-American in the White House, who also happened to be the most eloquent U.S. President since John Kennedy, would have made for an auspicious year for the international image of the U.S. in any event. In fact, however, […]