The Conversation

To conserve tropical forests and wildlife, protect the rights of people who rely on them

Written by Prakash Kashwan, Assistant Professor, Comparative Environmental Policy and Politics, Department of Political Science., University of Connecticut

Footbridge over the Coapa River in Chiapas, Mexico, which supports local silvopasture (forestry and livestock grazing). Lameirasb/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Many of our planet’s most beautiful areas are also sites of intense conflicts. In a recent example, traditional herdsmen in February took over the land around Mount Kenya, which is a World...

US foreign aid, explained

Written by Joannie Tremblay-Boire, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Management and Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

If implemented, President Trump's proposed foreign aid cuts would have many repercussions.Kendra Helmer/USAID, CC BY-ND

President Donald Trump seeks to fulfill his campaign promise to “put America first” in his proposed 2018 budget.

“This includes deep cuts to foreign aid,” Trump said in his opening message to his proposed...

Cutting UN peacekeeping operations: What will it say about America?

Written by Dennis Jett, Professor of International Relations, Pennsylvania State University

In a recent speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, the American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, made clear the Trump administration wants to slash U.S. funds to the U.N., including support for peacekeeping. Ambassador Haley also asserted that “The United States is the moral conscience of the world.”

While only about...

'Making Europe Great Again,' Trump's online supporters shift attention to the French election

Written by Saiph Savage, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, West Virginia University

Online backers are looking to Trump's success as a preview of Le Pen's candidacy.ID1974 / Shutterstock.com

The online movement that played a key role in getting Donald Trump elected president of the United States has begun to spread its political influence globally, starting with crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Among several key elections happening in...

DNA dating: How molecular clocks are refining human evolution's timeline

Written by Bridget Alex, Postdoctoral College Fellow, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Our cells have a built-in genetic clock, tracking time... but how accurately?Stopwatch image via www.shutterstock.com.

DNA holds the story of our ancestry – how we’re related to the familiar faces at family reunions as well as more ancient affairs: how we’re related to our closest nonhuman relatives, chimpanzees; how Homo sapiens m...

During World War I, a silent film spoke volumes about freedom of speech

Written by Eric P. Robinson, Assistant Professor of Media Law and Ethics, University of South Carolina

Chief John Big Tree, Dark Cloud, Jack Cosgrave, Adda Gleason and Robert Goldstein in The Spirit of '76 (1917).IMDb

In the United States, “The Great War” led to unprecedented efforts by the federal government to control and restrict “unpatriotic” speech. But the boundary between speech that undermined the government and...

Who is a better ally for the US – Russia or China?

Written by Jeremy Friedman, Assistant Professor, Business, Government, and the International Economy, Harvard Business School

3D_creation/www.shutterstock.com

Forty-five years ago last February, U.S. President Richard Nixon returned from a visit to China that shocked the world and unsettled leaders in Moscow, who were awaiting a visit from Nixon a few months later.

Soviet leaders wondered if they were finally witnessing the birth of a U.S.-China alliance that they had...

The face of Latin American migration is rapidly changing. US policy isn't keeping up

Written by Jonathan Hiskey, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies, Vanderbilt University

A Salvadoran family who fled to the U.S. when armed men killed the father.AP Photo/LM Otero

A fundamental shift in U.S. immigration patterns is well underway.

Recent rhetoric from President Donald Trump and the focus of U.S. immigration policies suggest that Mexicans entering the U.S. without authorization are the principal challenge facing...

North Korea cyberspace offensives pose challenge in US-China relations

Written by Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, George Washington University

North Korean cyberattacks may increase as the country comes under greater international pressure.BeeBright via shutterstock.com

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet face to face for the first time. The expansive list of issues they might discuss is likely to include North Korea, the Chinese neighbor and...

Donor-advised funds: Charities with benefits

Written by Philip Hackney, James E. & Betty M. Phillips Associate Professor of Law, Louisiana State University

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are giving billions to charity through their donor-advised fund instead of a traditional foundation.Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

Can you guess which U.S. organization raised the most money through charitable contributions in 2015? When we ask our students this question, most figure it was the United Way, the Salvation Army...