October 2, 2015
DevelopmentThe biggest achievement of the past week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York was the adoption of a new fifteen-year plan for global development. Replacing the soon-to-expire Millenni…
November 16, 2012
Foreign AidWhat does the election mean for U.S. foreign aid? Question of the Week posts review important questions and controversies in global development by providing background information and links to a ful…
May 13, 2015
Sub-Saharan AfricaAfter almost five years of reverses, the Nigerian federal government largely cleared Boko Haram fighters from the territories they occupied in Borno state–in about five weeks. The Nigerian government…
March 24, 2014
United StatesThe Russian coercive de facto annexation of the Crimean province of Ukraine poses a dilemma for U.S. policymakers. They claim the need to “send a strong message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin t…
May 24, 2013
United StatesThe United States has fought twelve major wars and numerous smaller skirmishes in its history. Memorial Day is our way of honoring the soldiers, sailors, airmen, airwomen, and marines who did not ret…
May 17, 2013
Military OperationsJohn Vandiver, “US-trained Congolese Battalion Among Units Accused of Rape,” Stars and Stripes, May 10, 2013. For U.S. diplomats and military officials who were involved in training a Congolese ar…
October 27, 2012
United StatesMurphy’s Law holds that if anything can go wrong, it will. On Saturday October 27, 1962, the twelfth day of the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy might have been thinking about that fam…
April 12, 2012
United StatesOn February 15, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee: “I can’t impress upon you that in my personal military judgment, formed over th…
June 14, 2011
Politics and GovernmentCongresswoman Michele Bachmann speaks at a rally on Capitol Hill on March 31, 2011. (Kevin Lamarque/courtesy Reuters) Michele Bachmann made some news at last night’s rather sedate GOP presidential …
May 6, 2008
Financial MarketsOil is trading above $120. Saudi Arabia exports more oil than anyone else. It isn’t unrealistic to think the Saudis oil export revenue could approach $400 billion a year if oil stays above $120…