Three centers of power increasingly dominate our lives, but are less and less accountable: The Supreme Court, the Federal Reserve, and Big Tech. So how do we break the cycle and hold these power centers accountable?
Giving thanks to our U.S. veterans who continue to support Afghanistan
As I gather with my family this Thanksgiving, I must put aside the darkness that hangs over my home country of Afghanistan and celebrate the accomplishments that the country has been able to achieve largely in part from the sacrifices of American service members who were deployed to Afghanistan over the past twenty years.
Another vigilante escaped justice. What now?
Somehow, a jury in Wisconsin found that Kyle Rittenhouse was justified in driving across a state border armed with a rifle and killing two protesters, wounding a third, and firing on a fourth. I can’t help but feel a great sense of unease about what this verdict will produce, both in terms of legal precedent, as well as social unrest.
My brother is a disabled Gulf War veteran. His wife was still deported
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services deported by brother Manny Garcia’s undocumented wife Sherry even though he is a decorated Army veteran who served in the first Gulf War. Despite his best efforts, their two-year forced separation continues.
What is the Fate of Universities in Hong Kong?
These are dark days for universities, and more generally civil liberties, in Hong Kong. In the early 1980s, China’s president Deng Xiaoping outlined the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” for the reunification of Hong Kong with China as part of the negotiations with the United Kingdom. There would be “One China,” with distinct Chinese … Continue reading »
Merit, Access, and Opportunity: A Personal Perspective
Merit, Access, and Opportunity: A Personal Perspective Amid growing concern about unequal access and opportunity in education and the economy, it is natural for people to shape their perspective based on their life history. Here I present my perspective based on my own experience and some ideas about policy intervention. I was born … Continue reading »
Buffalo Soldiers One, General Lee Zero
Recently, a statue at West Point was unveiled honoring the service of the 9th and 10th Colored Cavalry, the famed “Buffalo Soldiers”. Earlier that week, the government of Richmond, Virginia, removed a monumental statue honoring the hero of the Confederacy, General Robert E. Lee. The statue of Lee was erected in 1890 and was the … Continue reading »
The Autocrats Playbook For Subduing Universities — What Can Be Done About It?
Neo-nationalism is on the rise–a term that describes the emergence, and in some cases revival, of extreme right-wing movements in key areas of the world, often characterized by anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric; economic protectionism; constraints on civil liberties; attacks on critics, including journalists and academics; denial of science related to climate change, the environment, and … Continue reading »
The U.S. must not abandon its allies in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley
Our allies, comrades in arms, friends and confidants—men, women, and children alike—are being surrounded by ruthless Taliban fighters. America has a commitment to these allies, one that it must honor. We cannot—we must not—abandon our allies in this time of need. To do so is to betray the ideological foundations of America itself.
One World, in Flames, From California to Turkey
The politicization of wildfires across the world shows toxic commonalities in quite different contexts. Just like the partially common causes of the fires, these similarities of politicization require us to think outside the box. If disasters are not re-politicized in a transnational way, each of us will pay an increasingly high price. My experience … Continue reading »
California must defend protesters from the harms of tear gas, rubber bullets
The use of tear gas and rubber bullets against crowds often inflames tensions instead of calming them, and has led to serious injuries. California is taking the legislative lead in protecting the right to protest through AB48, which would create new common-sense requirements for the use of less lethal weapons for crowd control, including that their use is necessary to prevent serious injury and proportionate to the threat.
A GOP-majority Supreme Court shows cruelty toward the powerless
Republican-appointed justices, who now hold six of nine seats on the Court, are ready to overturn the Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, striking down anti-abortion laws across the nation as violating a woman’s right to privacy under the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.
Biden Has Big Plans for International Education – Revisiting Some Recommendations
After decades of neglect, the Biden administration appears to be on the verge of developing a coherent federal strategy for promoting the international engagement of American higher education with the larger world. Thus far, and unlike many of our economic competitors, international engagement has largely been self-funded and pursued by individuals and by universities and … Continue reading »
Behind the absurd attacks on ‘Critical Race Theory’
The attacks on “CRT” reveal that most of the critics have very little idea what they are even aiming at. Rather than attacking CRT, some of the key phrases in the proposed statehouse bills are rather ideas or claims made in much more recent and mainstream writing or advocacy, such as things Robin DiAngelo has suggested or Tema Okun has circulated. If Robin DiAngelo and Tema Okun are CRT scholars, then I’m an astrophysicist.
California: Keep public meetings open through technology
Over the past pandemic year, life events and activities have moved online that we once believed must be held in person: weddings, classes, conferences, cocktail parties. Many aspects of government business also transitioned from requiring a presence in person to being facilitated through online platforms. California’s open meeting laws inscribed in the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting … Continue reading »
Refugee Responsibility Sharing or Responsibility Dumping?
This post was first published on Just Security, and is co-authored by Elena Chachko. World Refugee Day is an opportunity to focus attention on one of the most pressing refugee law and policy challenges: almost 9 out of 10 refugees are hosted in developing countries. Better distribution of responsibility for seekers of international protection remains … Continue reading »
Five ways to prevent child marriage in refugee communities: 280 girls speak out
By Julie Freccero and Audrey Taylor Just before global travel came to a halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we traveled some 700 miles by road from Kampala to Bidi Bidi and Palorinya—two refugee settlements near the South Sudan border that are home to nearly 400,000 South Sudanese refugees—to talk with girls about … Continue reading »
Our Responsibility to Refugees
Nearly 80 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, including 26 million refugees and 4.2 million asylum seekers.* Writing in the wake of World War II, Hannah Arendt, herself a refugee, described the plight of refugees as involving not only “the loss of their homes” but also the loss of “a right to have rights…and … Continue reading »
George Floyd. Rodney King. We’ve seen it before
What changes are needed to end this seemingly never-ending cycle?
The University of California can legally require COVID-19 vaccinations
Government actors should not take lightly the power to conscript citizens into action against their will, particularly on matters of personal health and bodily autonomy. But as the law currently stands, it is within the University’s power to adopt the policy of requiring its students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.