The Conversation

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...

Techniques of 19th-century fake news reporter teach us why we fall for it today

Written by Petra S. McGillen, Assistant Professor of German Studies, Dartmouth College

German journalist and novelist Theodor Fontane.Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump appears to have a straightforward definition of fake news: Stories that are critical of him or his presidency are “fake,” while those that praise him are “real.”

On the surface, the logic doesn’t hold up. But at the same time, the way Trump...

What's at stake as President Trump sits down with China’s Xi

Written by Greg Wright, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of California, Merced

The U.S. and China together account for one-third of global economic output, so there is a lot at stake as President Donald Trump meets with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, not least the fate of the world economy over the next few years.

And it is precisely the magnitude of the stakes involved that has led some observers to assume that both...

Yes, we can do 'sound' climate science even though it's projecting the future

Written by Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Nobody can observe events in the future so to study climate change, scientists build detailed models and use powerful supercomputers to simulate conditions, such as the global water vapor levels seen here, and to understand how rising greenhouse gas levels will change Earth's systems.NCAR/UCAR, CC BY-NC-ND

Increasingly in the current U.S....

With new technology, mathematicians turn numbers into art

Written by Frank A. Farris, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Santa Clara University

Mathematical visualization techniques led the author to create this virtual scene, showing shapes from the realm of mathematics bursting into the physical world.Frank Farris, CC BY

Once upon a time, mathematicians imagined their job was to discover new mathematics and then let others explain it.

Today, digital tools like 3-D printing, animation and...

Bosnia's 25-year struggle with transitional justice

Written by Brian Grodsky, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Graves at the memorial center Potocari, near SrebrenicaAP Photo/Amel Emric

The Bosnian war started 25 years ago this week.

Although bombs ceased falling in 1995, in many ways the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are as divided as ever. The past two decades have repeatedly shown that divisions exacerbated by the war continue to permeate...

The unique case for rural charter schools

Written by Karen Eppley, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Pennsylvania State University

Rural schools are an often overlooked part of the public education system.Sascha Erni/flickr, CC BY

The recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education has brought rural schools into the national conversation in ways never seen before. At her confirmation hearing, DeVos said that guns might have a place in schools in order to protect...