In a motion that has incensed free speech advocates across the country, Boston’s Northeastern University has suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) until 2015, after the organization engaged in a leaflet campaign around school dormitories. The university has also pursued disciplinary action, including expulsion proceedings, against two group members. The leaflets […]
Archives for April 2014
Limits of the Obama Doctrine: Counterterrorism, Syria, and Ukraine
Two tendencies define the Obama Administration’s approach to armed conflict: retrenchment from inherited wars and minimal military involvement in new crises. Since taking office, President Obama has tried to readjust American foreign policy to reflect new political and fiscal constraints. Seven years of war under the Bush administration wore down the electorate’s patience for foreign […]
France’s Hateful New Gesture
A new gesture called the “quenelle” has been making its way into the pictures of French adolescents, writers, and footballers alike. The quenelle is almost militaristic in appearance, and unlike typical poses such as the thumbs up, it carries an implicit political message, though the meaning of that message is still unclear. It has been […]
Modern Slavery in Senegal
Western media often cites Senegal as a beacon of democratic hope and stability in West Africa amidst a slew of violence-ridden, deeply impoverished neighbors. Senegal boasts one of the highest GDP’s in the region with a steady growth rate, more than a decade of peaceful turnovers of power, and a balanced, moderate Muslim society on […]
The Politics of Pouring Concrete
Following the 1947 War of Independence, the establishment of the state of Israel was predicated on the removal of the Palestinian population. Referred to as the Nakba, or the catastrophe in Arabic, the expulsion and displacement of the Palestinians has become the focal point for the call to a political solution to the conflict, particularly […]
Reforming Maine’s Human Trafficking Laws
Although many are familiar with the devastating affects of the sex trafficking industry, it is easy to disassociate ourselves from the issue, and see it as an international problem on which we can have little impact. Sex trafficking is the international, national, and local trade in humans for the purpose of sexual slavery. The victims […]
Keystone XL: Our Politics Must Catch up to the Science
The Problem On May 4, 2012, TransCanada Corporation sent an application to the State Department for a proposed pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to Nebraska. Keystone XL, if approved, would be the fourth phase of the Keystone Pipeline System (three phases are already in operation). When completed, the pipelines would carry up […]
How New is the New Pope?
On paper, the Pope is not a very powerful head of state. He rules over a tiny country, less than one square mile with fewer than one thousand residents. His influence and soft power, however, extend to well over one billion individuals throughout the world. Because Popes rule until they die or resign, the ascension […]
A Tale of Two Countries
The grim scenery of Stakhanov, Ukraine somehow fits the city in an appropriate way. The former industrial boomtown now plays home to a rapidly aging set of workers, where pensioners outnumber tax-paying workers three to one. The city relies on Russia to buy up to 90 percent of its industrial goods, with many factories barely […]
Homophobia in American Sports
The American sports world is abuzz with conversation about LBGTIQA athletes. Last May, Jason Collins, a journeyman NBA basketball player, announced in a Sports Illustrated article that he was gay, becoming the first male athlete to do so in any of the four major professional sports in America. Then, this past February he became the […]