The Crisis in Gaza

Given the complexity of the rapidly-unfolding crisis in Gaza since then, the CPR editorial team has decided to compile the diverse set of responses we have received from members of the Columbia community.

Read More
ISIS or ISIL or Just IS?

"Perhaps it is difficult to think of the Islamic State as an actual state because the vocabulary we use to discuss the region is so entrenched in our political maps. The media’s confusion over the organization’s name—ISIL or ISIS?—demonstrates the difficulty of escaping to a time before Sykes-Picot."

Read More
Brina SeidelComment
Cashing In On Columbia?

With recovery from the global recession proceeding slowly and youth unemployment at almost 15 percent, it is tempting to question the actual value of our liberal arts degrees. We reached out to the Columbia community to find out their views on education and the economy, asking student groups, professors, and administrators the following question: What role should Columbia play in preparing students to face this economy?

Read More
Ask The Experts

"Putin may be able to get concessions out of Ukraine that stem from fear, but he may ironically have accelerated the resolve of Ukrainian elites to overcome their own internal problems, including by cleaning up corruption and cementing civilian control over the security forces, and thereby make Ukraine a more attractive candidate for western trade and investment."

Read More
Off Her Majesty’s Secret Service

The SNP’s platform is nothing if not simple: Scotland should leave the United Kingdom. And with a referendum asking “Should Scotland be an independent country?” scheduled for September 18, the party leading the so-called “Yes campaign” may get its wish. Most Americans may not give much thought to British politics, but they have a huge stake in the debate over Scottish independence—and not just because James Bond’s national identity hangs in the balance.

Read More
American In-Gene-uity

A technique to prevent a form of inheritable late-onset blindness is only the most recent development to come out of the burgeoning field of genetic engineering. But the idea of a human with three genetic parents (that is, compared to the two genetic parents of fetuses carried by surrogate mothers) demands a serious conversation about the future legality and ethics of human genetic manipulation.

Read More
Jamie BootheComment
#Diplomacy

American technology companies are already acting towards the same ends of free speech, participating in what Alec Ross, a member of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s inner circle, called “twenty-first century statecraft.”

Read More
Paki-standing Alone

In early March, eight men and women attacked the central train station of Kunming, the capital of the southwestern province Yunnan. Armed with knives, these people slaughtered 28 civilians and left 130 injured in what the Chinese media have dubbed “China’s 9/11.” As pressure mounts on Beijing to react swiftly, Islamabad must do all it can to ensure that Beijing, its most powerful ally, does not lose faith but remains, in the words of former President Pervez Musharraf, a “time-tested and all-weather friend.”

Read More
Diamonds Aren’t Forever

The revenues from Debswana provide 50 percent of all government revenues in Botswana. The case study of the relationship between De Beers and Botswana represents the intermingling of a firm and the state, the combination of economic and political interests, and serves as a modern study of political economy. It also provides an intriguing glimpse into modern imperialism.

Read More