The Conversation

What is isolationism? The history and politics of an often-maligned foreign policy concept

Written by Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College

Isolationism has deep roots in American foreign policy stretching back to George Washington.FotografiaBasica/Getty Images

Few terms in American foreign policy discourse are as misunderstood or politically charged as “isolationism.”

Often used as a political weapon, the term conjures images of a retreating America, indifferent to global...

From opposing robber barons to the New Deal to desegregation to DOGE, state attorneys general have long taken on Washington

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

State attorneys general are teaming up to check Trump's executive power.erhui1979/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The start of President Donald Trump’s second term has been a bonanza for the attorneys general of blue states. As the president has released his blizzard of executive orders and axed federal funding and programs on which...

America’s designs on annexing Canada have a long history − and record of political failures

Written by G. Patrick O'Brien, Assistant Teaching Professor of History, University of Tampa

Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the specter of annexing Canada since his inauguration to a second term as president.

The president’s rhetoric about making Canada “the 51st state” may seem to project confidence, a 21st-century vision of manifest destiny, a belief in the United States’ right and obligation to expand.

Trump...

What is Tren de Aragua? How the Venezuelan gang started − and why US policies may only make it stronger

Written by Verónica Zubillaga, Mellon Visiting Professor, University of Illinois Chicago

A viral surveillance video allegedly shows armed members of the Tren de Aragua gang at an apartment building in Aurora, Colo.RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

When the U.S. government deported 177 Venezuelans on Feb. 20, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that 80 of the deportees were members of the...

The only ‘winner’ here is Putin: Ukraine unites in response to Trump-Zelenskyy spat and resigns itself to new reality

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

A trap or a misstep? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sit-down with Donald Trump and JD Vance heads south.AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov

“A president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn’t Zelenskyy.”

That was the verdict of the editorial team at the Kyiv Independent, one of Ukraine’s leading media...

How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking, undermines democracy and threatens global stability

Written by Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State University

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, 2025.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Journalists covering the Feb. 28, 2025, Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it as a “jaw-dropping” “spectacle” and a...

Making English the official US language can’t erase the fact that the US has millions of Spanish speakers and a long multilingual history

Written by Daniel J. Olson, Professor of Linguistics and Spanish, Purdue University

English should be the official language of the United States, says a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump on March 1, 2025. The move follows the Trump administration’s termination of the Spanish-language version of the White House website and its Spanish-language account on X, formerly Twitter.

Both were abruptly shut down...

As flu cases break records this year, vaccine rates are declining, particularly for children and 65+ adults

Written by Annette Regan, Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles

It's not too late to get a flu shot.Fat Camera/E+ via Getty Images

In February 2025, flu rates spiked to the highest levels seen in at least 15 years, with flu outpacing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified this flu...

Texas records first US measles death in 10 years – a medical epidemiologist explains how to protect yourself and your community from this deadly, preventable disease

Written by Daniel Pastula, Professor of Neurology, Medicine (Infectious Diseases), and Epidemiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Young children are especially vulnerable to measles. Bilanol via Getty Images

On Feb. 26, 2025, Texas health officials announced the death of a child in a measles outbreak – the first measles death in the United States since 2015. The outbreak was first identified in early February in Gaines County, Texas, where just 82% of kindergartners are...

Coastal economies rely on NOAA, from Maine to Florida, Texas and Alaska – even if they don’t realize it

Written by Christine Keiner, Chair, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Rochester Institute of Technology

U.S. fishing industries, both commercial and recreational, rely on healthy coastal areas.Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

Healthy coastal ecosystems play crucial roles in the U.S. economy, from supporting multibillion-dollar fisheries and tourism industries to protecting coastlines from storms.

They’re also difficult to manage,...