- Largest Climate Bill in U.S. History Is a Start, but Is It Enough?
Met with an enthusiastic round of applause and cheers, US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law on Aug. 16, 2022. In his address to the American people, Biden triumphantly said the IRA–a bill dedicated to fighting climate change and reducing fossil fuel emissions in a way that will also lower inflation–is one of the most significant laws in American history. - Poland Under Fire: What the Missile Crisis Teaches Us About NATO’s Response and the Containment of the Ukraine Conflict
On Tuesday, November 15, Poland reported two missile strikes against the town of Przewodów, located 6 kilometers away from the Ukrainian border. The strike resulted in two civilian casualties. While Russia was initially suspected, it has since been confirmed that the missiles were fired by Ukrainian air defenses against an incoming Russian missile. Regardless of the missile’s origin, we have never been closer to the risk of a global war since the start of the Ukrainian conflict. - Jeff Bezos: Billionaire, Philanthropist, Greenwasher?
The 27th UN Conference on Climate Change, COP27, saw a pronouncement from French President Emmanuel Macron that the Bezos Earth Fund had pledged $1 billion to protect carbon reserves and biodiversity. With such a prominent pledge, many have begun to ask, what is the Earth Fund, and where is it situated in the architecture of global environmental governance? Non-state actors are not new to the area, with NGOs and activists becoming increasingly prominent at these international conferences. But philanthropic groups like the Bezos Earth Fund are comparatively new. While they may be able to bring large amounts of money to the table, these actors raise concerns about legitimacy and the power of wealthy individuals like Jeff Bezos. As a result, the fund and its plans are worth a closer look. - Power Politics in the Arctic: China and India
The melting of the glaciers is changing geopolitical arrangements. In the Arctic, global warming is opening opportunities for the allocation of needed resources even to non-Arctic states. The region is indeed opening up to new power dynamics and competition as states propel their economic, military, and political claims. New powers, such as China and India, have joined the resources race; but what can they really gain from the frozen Arctic lands? And how will this affect the regional and global balance of power? - Emerging Conversations on Anti-Asian Hate Crimes and the Legalities Behind Them
On Sept. 29, the US-Asia Law Institute at NYU Law invited attorneys Jennifer Wu (NYU Law, 2004) and Lawrence Wee (Harvard Law, 1994) from the Paul Weiss Law firm to discuss anti-Asian hate crime. Wu and Wee spoke on the difficulty of prosecuting hate crimes through the nature of collecting evidence, and why the community response, both digital and protest advocacy, should be made first and foremost with the voice of the victims in mind. In a city-campus where students are already cautious of daily safety, the rise in hate crimes and the deaths of young professionals alarmed safety concerns and brought forward attention and support for the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community. - On Iran’s Ambitions, Gulf States and the US Keep Passing the Buck
Much of the Middle East is facing a crisis of indecision on Iran. Despite extensive reporting on Iran’s expansionist ambitions, the Islamic Republic has been making bold demands with the expectation of both Western and Arab acquiescence. Iranian proxy footholds have long eroded the sovereignties of sectarian states. Regional tensions have further deepened due to Tehran’s insistence that a renewed nuclear agreement must preclude the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate undisclosed uranium enrichment facilities. - Beijing – The Next Target of US Sanctions?
Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has animated the use of economic sanctions in an unprecedented way. Strenuous US-China relations, exacerbated by Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan, raise the question of whether Washington would impose similar measures on Beijing in the face of a military invasion of Taiwan. - A Brief History of the US Labor Movement
The first national federation of unions, the National Labor Union, was created in 1872 after workers demanded for an eight-hour workday. In the following decades, unions representing an assortment of trades and demands sprang up across the US. Their goal was to protect the rights – to safety, humane conditions, and social and economic freedom – of workers as booming corporations seemingly sought to eliminate them. - COVID-19 Presents Challenges for Religious Expression in the U.S.
Religious institutions across the U.S. are filing lawsuits against their state and local governments, arguing that the social distancing rules meant to slow the spread… - COVID-19 Reaches the Gig Economy
One of the first things I did when I moved to New York was sign up for Wag, an app-based dog-walking service. I love both… - The Uniting Power of Trump’s Immigration Policies
Since the 2016 U.S. election, the Trump administration has tried to keep its campaign promises by making refugee entry into the U.S. as difficult as… - An Election of “Firsts”
Yesterday’s election saw large numbers of Americans turning up to cast their votes. The New York Times is estimating that some 114 million ballots were cast… - Diversity and Inclusion in Arts and Culture
Photo courtesy: Clip Art A year and 375 meetings later, CreateNYC prepares to release a report on feedback from arts and culture creatives, activists, advocates,… - Insights | Caring for the Crazy
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons What if the next time you fell ill, seriously ill—the kind of… - Insights | The Truth About Torture: Depicting CIA Abuses in ‘The Torture Report’
Excerpt from ‘The Torture Report’ | Photo courtesy Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón On September 17, 2001, the United States took its first steps into a… - Trump Leaves the Neighborhood Bloc Party
The United States may not keep its neighbors behind an iron curtain, but it has certainly asserted regional dominance over the past century. The United… - Reconciling Ideology: In Between NYC and Nowhere
The majority of Russian-Americans were thrilled by Trump’s familiar rhetoric, isolationism, and friendly view of Russia and Putin, and they were equally delighted when he… - BLOCKED Muslim Ban 2.0
The author, Ionut Gitan, with his makeshift sign at JFK airport, snapped by a photographer at New York Times | Photo courtesy Victor J. Blue/NYT… - What Robert Bork’s Legacy Means for the Trump Administration
Brace yourself: Robert Bork is about to become very relevant again. The name Robert Bork is familiar to most politicos, and his story serves as… - Local Leaders Resist Trump Immigration Order
President Trump issued executive orders on Wednesday to construct a border wall with Mexico and increase efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. The Trump… - The Contested US Intelligence Community: Why Limiting its Role Would be a Blunder
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, in an event unforeseen by the US intelligence community. Yet, as we commemorate Pearl… - The Case for Donald J. Trump
In a final installment of JPI’s 2016 election coverage, we bring you two articles, with each writer arguing why their candidate should be elected President… - The Case for Hillary Clinton
In a final installment of JPI’s 2016 election coverage, we bring you two articles, with each writer arguing why their candidate should be elected President… - Surge in US Citizenship Applications as Immigrants Demand the Vote
Students nestle into desks in a crowded classroom at elementary school PS 69 in the Jackson Heights, neighborhood of Queens, New York. But it is… - Governments at the Table, NGOs on the Sidelines
It took four years to break the logjam, but in July, the Committee to Protect Journalists cut through opposition from the UN’s NGO Committee and… - The Hazards of Hillary
At the Democratic Party’s convention this past summer, Hillary Clinton recited the words of John Wesley—the 17th century founder of her Christian Methodist denomination—during her… - Western Women in ISIS: Naïve Victims, or Violent Terrorists?
“It was a really hard life.” Said by a shaken 16-year-old named Marilyn Nevalainen, these words represent a girl’s realization about life under ISIS rule.… - One in Three Native American Women Report Rape – Rarely See Justice
In April, Joseph Dean Lee was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a Native American woman on the Fort Peck Reservation… - Obligatory democracy is no democracy at all
When asked to govern themselves, it appears most Americans would rather do other things. Local elections rarely pull more than 30 percent of constituents to… - Trump’s Misguided Torture Plan
“We can’t do waterboarding, and they can chop off our heads,” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said during a CNN interview in March in response… - Jeb Bush, Super PAC-Man
It was an unbelievable, record-setting amount of money. In the first six months of 2015, the super PAC behind Jeb Bush’s presidential run, Right to… - Sharing is caring: Why America needs a single-payer healthcare system
[A version of this article was previously published here] Americans think that a simple doctor’s visit in Britain means waiting in a Soviet-style bread line.… - So you want to move to Canada, eh?
Well, well, well. How the tables have turned. It was only last month that I was still getting a constant barrage of “You’re Canadian?! That’s… - Sellouts and back stabbers: The nasty game of political endorsements
After Donald Trump’s Super Tuesday victory, a new game of political calculation is beginning. As the days tick by till there’s a new decider in… - What criminal justice can teach us about the primaries
Power is always partially underwritten by popularity, but modern democracies make the relationship official and exclusive. Popularity is the only widely accepted basis for authority,… - What the sponsors of the Global Citizen Conference forgot to mention60,000 fans waved their smartphones in the air as Beyoncé joined Eddie Vedder to close the Global Citizen Conference last weekend in New York with…
- Volkswagen emissions scandal dampens automotive industry credibility
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn turned in his resignation on Wednesday in the wake of a growing scandal over falsified emissions tests in the United States.… - Insights | Reducing Uncertainty
[Originally posted here] Books and movies often portray U.S. intelligence as a salacious world of secrets and spies, evoking images of Liam Neeson scaling buildings… - The World We Lost and How We Get it Back: Book Review of Ill Fares the LandEurope has lost its direction. Seven years after the financial crisis, most of the continent has still not recovered. An unresolved sovereign debt crisis, thousands…
- Flying Through the Fog of War
The Legal Debate on the U.S. Drone Program and Why it Matters to U.S. Interests On Thursday, the White House released a statement disclosing that… - The US Needs To Set Clear Cybersecurity Standards
In February, the Obama Administration unveiled its latest National Security Strategy, and to no surprise, cyber threats are prominent on the list of concerns. The… - Insights | The Savage Wars of Peace
At some point we have all discussed war. These discussions generally start along the lines of its merits and drawbacks, why countries engage in war,… - Theorizing a Role for Public Media in American Society in the 21st Century
Public media in the United States, as we know it today, exists almost as if it were a relic from another era of American life,… - How the Republicans Might Have Accidentally Helped Obama Get Closer to a Deal with Iran
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu’s March 3 address to Congress without an invitation from the executive branch, 47 Republican senators circumvented the White House… - North America Contributors
Are you interested in North America affairs? JPI is expanding and in addition to the Journal, published twice a year, we are now accepting contributions…
Student-led research, news, and political commentary from the International Relations graduate program at New York University
