The Conversation

FIFA's suspension of Russia is a rarity – but one that strips bare the idea that sport can be apolitical

Written by Stefan Szymanski, Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan

Facing penalties.AP Photo/Petr David Josek

The decision by FIFA on Feb. 28, 2022, to suspend Russia from international competition – a move that could see the national team excluded from the 2022 FIFA World Cup – breaks with a tradition of inaction by soccer’s world governing body over the ethical failings of member states.

Other...

Students with disabilities are not getting help to address lost opportunities

Written by John McKenna, Associate Professor of Special Education, UMass Lowell

Many students with disabilities struggled when forced to learn virtually from home during the pandemic.AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Even before the pandemic hit, 98% of U.S. school districts said they didn’t have enough special education teachers to serve all the students who needed their help. During the pandemic, short-handed school districts were...

Shell, BP and ExxonMobil have done business in Russia for decades – here's why they're leaving now

Written by Yan Anthea Zhang, Professor of Strategic Management, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Pumps at a Shell fueling station in Tatarstan, Russia, Nov. 20, 2017.Yegor Aleyev\TASS via Getty Images

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, British energy giant BP announced on Feb. 27, 2022, that it will sell its nearly 20% ownership in Russian state-owned energy giant Rosneft. BP’s rival Shell is also pulling out of all of...

War in Ukraine is changing energy geopolitics

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

A woman holds a blood-stained portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a protest at the Russian Consulate in Montreal on Feb. 25, 2022. Andrej Ivanov /AFP via Getty Images

Russia’s war against Ukraine will change the landscape of global energy and its geopolitics in profound ways. Pieces of this terrain have already begun shifting.

As...

Skateboarding's spiritual side -- skaters find meaning in falls and breaking the monotony of urban life

Written by Terry Shoemaker, Lecturer in Religious Studies, Arizona State University

A skateboarder attempts a jump. MoMo Productions/Collections Stone via Getty Images

Over the last decade the numbers of those identifying as “Spiritual But Not Religious,” or SBNR, have continued to increase. In 2017, Pew Research Center found that a quarter of Americans identified as SBNR.

Sociologist Wade Roof Clark argues that the...

¿Qué tiene que ver el cambio climático y las tormentas de nieve que experimenta EEUU?

Written by Michael A. Rawlins, Associate Director, Climate System Research Center, UMass Amherst

Los bostonianos tuvieron que cavar para librarse de casi dos pies (0,6 metros) de nieve después de que una histórica tormenta de nieve a finales de enero de 2022.Scott Eisen/Getty Images

El noreste de Estados Unidos, región donde se encuentra la ciudad de Boston, ha visto un montón de nieve este invierno de 2021-2022,...

Sharing top-secret intelligence with the public is unusual – but helped the US rally the world against Russian aggression

Written by Stephen Long, Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies, University of Richmond

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks about the Ukraine crisis during the daily White House press briefing on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

In the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, President Joe Biden and U.S. national security officials provided the public with a running stream of...

The US is boosting aid to Ukraine: 4 questions answered

Written by Jessica Trisko Darden, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University

Workers unload a shipment of U.S. military aid in Ukraine in February 2022.AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

The U.S. government has condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine and vowed to make sure Russia faces consequences for its attack. Political scientist Jessica Trisko Darden, author of “Aiding and Abetting: U.S. Foreign Assistance and State Violence...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has Kremlin battling for hearts and minds at home

Written by Cynthia Hooper, Associate Professor of History, College of the Holy Cross

The Kremlin has exerted tight control over news and social media in an effort to control the information Russians receive about the Ukraine war.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin is locked in a vicious struggle not only to subjugate Ukraine, but also to keep his own citizens united in support of Kremlin...

Holy wars: How a cathedral of guns and glory symbolizes Putin’s Russia

Written by Lena Surzhko Harned, Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, attends a ceremony consecrating the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow. Andrey Rusov, Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

A curious new church was dedicated on the outskirts of Moscow in June 2020: The Main Church of the Russian Armed Forces. The massive, khaki-colored cathedral in a...