Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

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Class and the Classroom How Elite Universities Are Hurting America By George Scialabba William Deresiewicz argues that elite American universities have abandoned the vital goal of enlightenment to focus instead on facilitating students’ careers, especially in finance and consulting. He’s right.

Disrupting the Intelligence Community America’s Spy Agencies Need an Upgrade By Jane Harman Ten years from now, the CIA’s primary mission will be covert action; the NSA will move away from collecting personal data; and traditional espionage—the use of spies to gather human intelligence—will become less valuable than open-source intelligence.

Rivals With Benefits Israel and Saudi Arabia's Secret History of Cooperation By Asher Orkaby Observers might be surprised to hear of increasingly friendly relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But a warming of relations—and even coordinated military operations—would hardly be unprecedented, as the historical record makes clear.

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Current History's March Issue Current History, the journal of contemporary international affairs, presents its March issue on Europe: now available in print, online, and on Kindle. Featured are Erik Jones on the austerity tragedy; Adam Luedtke on immigration policy; Abby Innes on Hungary’s illiberal turn; Brendan O’Leary on resurgent nationalism; Mark Kramer on the Russian chill in the Baltic; Hans Kundnani on rethinking German power; and Jan-Werner Müller on the euro trap. The upcoming schedule: South Asia (April); Africa (May). To subscribe or explore our archives, visit currenthistory.com. Or call 1-800-293-3755 in the US, or 856-931-6681 outside the US.

China's Big Debt Swap How Beijing Is Handling Local Liabilities By Dan Steinbock Beijing recently launched an estimated $160 billion deal, in which local governments’ risky debts will be replaced with low-interest municipal debt. The change heralded a huge shift in ongoing efforts by Chinese reformers to shore up the country's economy.

The Power of the Powerless The Politics of Poverty at the Doha Round By Amrita Narlikar Developed and developing countries use poverty as a bargaining tool. Here's how.

Iraq's Sunni Reawakening How to Defeat ISIS and Save the Country By Dafna H. Rand and Nicholas A. Heras In early March, Baghdad started a push to retake the historic city of Tikrit, in the center of the so-called Sunni triangle. Some Americans must be feeling a sense of déjà vu; the U.S. military tried something similar as part of the 2006-07 Arab Sunni Awakening. Then as now,...

Too Close to Call in Israel  Netanyahu and Herzog's Narcissism of Small Differences By Michael J. Koplow Those hoping that a Prime Minister Herzog would bring about a momentous shift in Israeli foreign policy will be disappointed. No matter who emerges as victor following the election and the inevitable weeks of haggling and horse-trading that go into forming a coalition,...

Solar Power Comes of Age How Harnessing the Sun Got Cheap and Practical By Dickon Pinner and Matt Rogers Solar power has been declared a winner before, only to flounder. But these days it is expanding faster than any other power source, with momentum that has become unstoppable. The potential benefits—both economic and environmental—could be profound.

Does Race Matter in Latin America? How Racial and Ethnic Identities Shape the Region’s Politics By Deborah J. Yashar In Latin America, questions about racial and ethnic differences used to be ignored or suppressed. Now they’re increasingly on the political agenda. Here’s how that changed.

Broken Ukraine The Mess Isn't All Russia's Fault By Paul Stronski Criminal and militant groups in eastern Ukraine, although formally united against the Ukrainian state, are mostly just interested in the spoils of war. The commanders of these groups have little incentive to build a peace that weakens their own power.

After Tikrit What to Do With Iraq’s Shia Popular Mobilization Units By Michael Knights Unthinkable just a decade ago, the main government forces leading the battle in Tikrit are Shia fighters—the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) that are under the control of militia leaders. Worryingly, these forces’ main partners are Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah.

Ukrainian Politics Abroad How the Ukrainian Diaspora Sees the Homeland By Olena Lennon The nationalistic ideology among some in the Ukrainian diaspora is fueling extreme sentiments both abroad and in their homeland.

Don't Blame the Banks How Overregulation Chokes the Flow of Remittances to Somalia By Tom Keatinge Roughly $1.3 billion in remittances flow to Somalia every year. But heavy-handed regulation threatens to cut off this vital flow of money.

Development Before Democracy Why ASEAN Isn't Pressuring Myanmar to Reform By Nikolay Anguelov Nearly two years after the United States lifted its economic sanctions on Naypyidaw, the ruling military regime has stalled reforms. And worst yet, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations don't seem to mind.