Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sponsored by Northeastern University

Preparing for War in Lithuania Letter From Vilnius By Gregory Feifer From Klaipeda to Vilnius, Lithuanians are preparing for the day that Russian President Vladimir Putin turns from Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine toward them or their neighbors in Latvia and Estonia. Their jitters are understandable; every family in the Baltics has...

Accepting Al Qaeda The Enemy of the United States' Enemy By Barak Mendelsohn It is certainly ironic that at this point, when the United States is the closest it has ever been to destroying al Qaeda, its interests would be better served by keeping the terrorist organization afloat and Zawahiri alive.

A Strategic Seaport Is Pakistan Key to China's Energy Supremacy? By Syed Fazl-e-Haider A seaport in southwest Pakistan may hold the key to China’s energy supremacy. At least, that’s what China hopes.

Advertisement: Northeastern University

MS in Global Studies and International Affairs Our Graduate Programs in Government & Civic Engagement, including the MS in Global Studies and International Affairs are designed to position you to take on roles that address pressing civic and government issues in a complex global environment. By enrolling in a Northeastern University graduate program, you join a selective group of successful professionals who share their experience and challenges to advance their fields, having mastered policy, analytic, and research skills. Learn more today>>

Turkey and Egypt's Great Game in the Middle East The Regional Powerhouses Square Off By Soner Cagaptay and Marc Sievers The chaos in the Middle East has tested many relationships, not least the one between Egypt and Turkey. In the immediate term, it seems likely that the two countries' rivalry will exacerbate the Libyan civil war. Further out, even worse could be in store.

Battery Powered The Promise of Energy Storage By Steve LeVine When it comes to energy, new technologies can upend the status quo almost overnight, surprising everyone. And just as the shale revolution, unleashed by fracking, has largely triggered the current oil upheaval, so progress in improving batteries could roil geopolitics and...

Does Affirmative Action Work? Lessons From Around the World By Graham K. Brown and Arnim Langer Across the globe, the lessons from affirmative action programs are clear: they can occasionally help in the economic sphere, produce mixed results in improving social cohesion, and are an unmitigated disaster when it comes to politics.

How to Deter China The Case for Archipelagic Defense By Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. To deter Chinese expansionism, the United States must deny China the ability to control the air and sea around the “first island chain”—Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan—and offset the PLA’s efforts to destabilize the region’s military balance.

Making Up Isn't Hard to Do How Japan and South Korea Can Move On By Jennifer Lind Japan and South Korea may never be as cozy as France and Germany are today, but certain conditions, or enemies, can push them to reconcile.

What's a Palestinian? Uncovering Cultural Complexities By Zachary J. Foster It is not often that politicians make public pronouncements about the historical origins of national identities, but the Palestinian identity is a unique case. It has long been the source of controversy and mystery.

Can Sex Education Be Universal? Liberalism and Choice Around the World By Jonathan Zimmerman Since the 1960s, Americans have split into two camps on sex education: one side wants to teach kids how to make choices about sex, and the other wants to teach them to avoid it. That’s not an issue in most parts of the developing world, where the idea of youth as sexual...

Exhuming Turkey's Past Ottoman Revivalism, Then and Now By Nick Danforth From the 1930s to the present, Turkey has brandished neo-Ottoman rhetoric to support a range of different, even contradictory, policies.

Economic Coalition of the Willing The OECD Reinvents Itself By Stewart Patrick and Naomi Egel The OECD's approach to bringing in emerging powers as "key partners" is a smart way to remain relevant in a quickly shifting global landscape. Other multilateral organizations should pay attention.

Dark Days for Civil Society What's Going Wrong—And How Data Can Help By Sarah E. Mendelson Government harassment of independent organizations is as old as the state system itself, but recent intimidation campaigns have a twenty-first-century twist.

Hope Springs in Nigeria Promising Signs for Democracy in Abuja By Matt Mossman It is clearer than ever that democracy in Nigeria is a rather thin veneer. Even so, a couple of factors make the country particularly fertile ground for democracy.

Foreign Affairs Focus: R. Daniel Kelemen on Fixing Europe  By Gideon Rose and R. Daniel Kelemen Despite all the grim predictions, the European Union is not on the verge of collapse. Quite the contrary: if European leaders act with resolve and persistence, the union could experience a rebirth.