The Conversation

Will Trump negotiate a better coal deal for taxpayers?

Written by Meredith Fowlie, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley

Trump promises to revive the coal industry in part by opening up mining on federal lands, yet economists found that increasing royalties on public land would lead to more mining elsewhere, including Northern Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.AP Photo/Steve Helber

It’s here. The first week of the Trump administration. And it promises to be a...

China steps up as US steps back from global leadership

Written by Flynt L. Leverett, Professor of International Affairs and Asian Studies, Pennsylvania State University

China's President Xi Jinping at the podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.AP Photo/Michel Euler

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s appearance at last week’s World Economic Forum shows global leadership is shifting, not drifting, toward Beijing. The most vigorous defense of globalization and multilateral cooperation was...

Dispatch from DC: On the National Mall, the state of a nation

Written by Lisa Benton-Short, Associate Professor of Geography, George Washington University

On Jan. 20, Americans focused their attention on Washington, D.C., as the presidential inauguration ceremony took place on the National Mall, a place that urban scholars, geographers and historians refer to as a “stage for democracy.”

As an urban geographer, I study the important role of public space in cities. Perhaps no public space...

Donald Trump waves goodbye to era of baby boomer presidents

Written by Peter Kastor, Professor of History & American Culture Studies, Washington University in St Louis

As Donald Trump was sworn into office, Barack Obama watched. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were also nearby, in more ways than one.

I regularly teach a course on the American presidency. My students join a generation of Americans who have come of age with a particular vision of the presidency established by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack...

Trump's cabinet: Eight essential reads

Written by Emily Costello, Senior Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation

Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of archival stories.

The members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet will hold power over policies that determine many aspects of life in the U.S., touching citizens and immigrants, America’s relations with foreign governments and our nation’s use of natural resources.

The task of...

Trump's inaugural speech: Is it morning or mourning in America?

Written by Christian Lundberg, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Communication Consultant, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech – a brief address, which, at 1,433 words, was the shortest since President Carter’s – combined his trademark combative populism with shades of Ronald Reagan.

Though sprinkled with calls for unity, it also relied upon creating a sharp divide between his self-declared...

NATO's future when America comes first

Written by Simon Reich, Professor in The Division of Global Affairs and The Department of Political Science, Rutgers University Newark

Former President Obama famously suggested in a 2016 interview that he questioned a set of orthodox assumptions about American foreign policy that he labeled “the Washington Playbook.”

That orthodoxy, widely accepted among American political elites since 1945, includes an unending national commitment to employ America’s financial...

Price, author of long proposal to replace Obamacare, short on specifics in hearing

Written by Miranda Yaver, Lecturer in Political Science, Yale University

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) in confirmation hearing.Carolyn Kaster/AP

It is hardly unusual for Cabinet nominees to leave more questions than answers after their confirmation hearings. Yet for the millions whose lives hang in the balance depending on the future of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) answers were surprisingly vague on...

The art of protesting during Donald Trump's presidency

Written by Jeremy David Bendik-Keymer, Beamer-Schneider Professor in Ethics, Case Western Reserve University, Case Western Reserve University

With the new administration beginning, many people might want to know how to resist it. The inauguration week includes many protests against Donald Trump’s values – from the Women’s March on Washington to the #J20 Art Strike. What should we aim for as we head into protests?

As a reflective citizen and a practitioner of philosophy,...

Sultan Donald Trump?

Written by Henry F. (Chip) Carey, Associate Professor, Political Science , Georgia State University

Family is important to Donald Trump. The president-elect has appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner as a senior White House adviser. For the duration of the presidency, the real estate mogul has handed over the reins of his company to two of his sons Donald and Eric (and the CFO Allen Weisselberg). His children have played important roles in the...