Thinking about revolutions is inextricable from thinking about grief. We cannot know how many lives will be lost, but we know that those left behind will engage in personal and […]
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Many thanks to the American Prospect for giving me the opportunity to guest blog at TAPPED last week. Thanks also to my friends, family, colleagues, and loyal readers who helped […]
I used to think, when I heard the words “foreign policy expert”, that it really meant something, the way the phrase “nuclear power expert” connotes the image of someone who […]
As a companion piece to Waq al-waq’s ever expanding ever more popular post on the list of resignations in Yemen (many of these guys are apparently on hold with al-Jazeera […]
At the AAAS meetings last month, a panel focused on the relationship between journalists and climate scientists provoked a testy exchange. As Bud Ward at the Yale Forum on Climate […]
At the end of my post on Saturday, I mentioned what I saw at the beginning moves of a potential break between Salih’s immediate family and the rest of his […]
In today’s economic order the U.S. needs strong allies. Cultivating relationships in Latin America is essential if Washington wants to continue to exercise leadership in the region.
As political upheaval spreads across North Africa and into the Persian Gulf, 2011 may turn out to be as momentous as 1971, the year when the nature of the region’s petro-states first took shape.
Chernobyl and Three Mile Island did not stop nuclear power growth. Will the Japan nuclear crisis at Fukushima delay or end the ‘nuclear renaissance’? Governments are reassessing their plans.
After 2008’s banking crisis, the recession in 2009, perhaps the next phase of global economic turmoil will come from public finances. The problem is especially acute in top-heavy Europe.
Egyptians voted in overwhelming numbers to approve a set of constitutional amendments, setting the stage for Egypt’s first truly contested parliamentary and presidential elections in decades.
The U.S. economy is dealing with its problems by printing trillions of dollars. As these dollars flood the markets, investors have increasingly turned towards gold to hedge their currency doubts.
The Chinese government may be intentionally disrupting access to Google and other Web services as part of a campaign to tighten Internet controls and censor material.
Air power will be enough to escalate this war but not enough to win it. Although prohibited for now by the Security Council, “boots on the ground” will be required to remove Qaddafi.
The recent disasters to befall Japan, to be sure, are tragic, but these losses should not result in more than a small decline in the per capita standard of living of the Japanese people.
As emerging markets become major players in the world economy, nations must insist on growth that distributes income across populations in order to prevent protectionist trade policies.
Before we get into the news about all the activity in Indonesia, I did want to point out a couple of articles about the connection between earthquakes and volcanoes. After […]
So you may have noticed I haven’t posted on any movies lately. That’s because I haven’t seen any I liked or hated enough to talk about. I did just see […]
Jason Torpy argues in the American Humanist Association e-zine that “vegan priorities are humanist priorities.” His argument is a bait-and-switch–he sets you up for brie and leaves you with textured […]
Just how much of an impact will shocks like rising oil and food prices and the devastation in Japan have on America’s strengthening but still vulnerable economy?
Thomas Nagel says that “devaluation of conscious reasoning” is a form of “moral and intellectual laziness,” and that David Brooks is guilty of same in his new book. Nagel’s review […]
We are entering into a decisive turning point for the reactor crisis in Japan, as heroic workers attempt to restore power to the compromised reactors. The next few days are critical.
And not just a map: also a timeline, a literary checklist and a historiography
Television is the most dominant form of cultural expression in our country, beating out movies, print publications, and books. Is it a good idea to cut your kid off in the name of—what exactly?
It’s not just how free the market is. Some economists are looking at another factor that determines how much a country’s economy flourishes: how smart its people are.
A new mother’s body goes through many changes—among them, key parts of her brain get bigger. And the more these areas grow, the greater the mother-infant bond seems to be.
Similar to the way Google crawls the Internet, scientists have mapped a three-dimensional circuit of connected cells in the cerebral cortex, allowing them to navigate the mind’s jungle.
How do you get your point across over an issue as contentious as climate change? As a hearing in the U.S. Congress last week showed, the evidence alone is not enough.
A host of celebrities from David Lynch to Russel Brand and Moby are helping to popularize meditation. Now many are overcoming its New Age, hippie stereotype and learning to relax.
A computer-music system that interacts directly with the user’s brain, by picking up the tiny electrical impulses of neurons, may aid in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.