Daniel Bertrand Monk holds the George R. and Myra T. Cooley Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies at Colgate University, where he is a professor of Geography and Middle East Studies. He is the [co] author/editor of An Aesthetic Occupation, The Global Shelter Imaginary, The Post-Conflict Environment, and Evil Paradises, as well as a number of other studies on the Israel-Palestine conflict, neoliberal spatial practices, and humanitarian reason....
Earlier this week, a boat carrying migrants fleeing Afghanistan sank in the English Channel, killing six. Earlier this month, 41 died after a ship sailing from Tunisia sank near Italy. There are many more examples of such tragedies I could point to, and, sadly, there will be many more in the future. These are not acts of God, like hurricanes or earthquakes. They are created, both through the conflict and repression producing the crises and the...
I recently had the good fortune to participate in a week-long academic exchange to Israel, along with 20 or so other political scientists and historians. Because Israel isn’t one of the countries I have a lot of knowledge of, I thought this might be an opportunity to learn more about the country and wider region. My mom’s side of the family is Jewish, and I have distant relatives who died in the Holocaust and some who escaped death from...
You feel the gentle touch of the sea breeze on your face. Seagulls squawk overhead whilst waves crash against the shore. You glance at the book by your side, but its pages have lost their battle against the summer heat. You go for a swim. The feel of the cold salt water against your body brings back childhood memories of family trips to the seaside. When you return to your beach blanket, you catch sight of a hulking shadow cutting across the...
Bruno Carvalho is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. His research examines how the ocean has shaped Britain’s foreign policy and national identity through the theoretical lens of ontological security. Before starting his PhD, Bruno spent 13 years in the Brazilian Navy, as a Surface Officer. After serving on the Brazilian Frigate “Defensora”, submarine “Tikuna”, and Corvette “Julio de Noronha”, he worked as a staff officer in...
On Wednesday, protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, setting part of it on fire. This was in retaliation for the burning of the Quran during protests in Sweden. In response, the UN Human Rights Council called for restrictions on "anti-religious expression." Some may welcome this as a means to limit religious strife and stop Islamophobia, but they should be wary. These calls, in addition to being ineffective, often represent...
Back in 2019, Uri Friedman wrote that we “find ourselves—as you will have heard in the corridors …
Despite existing international regulations advising countries to coordinate and minimize border restrictions, an overwhelming number of countries closed and restricted their borders during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A report in April 2020 showed that 91% of the world’s population lived in a country with COVID-19-related travel restrictions, restrictions on people from other countries who are neither citizens nor residents. Strong...
William Christiansen, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of political science with a focus on international relations. Before joining Mount St. Mary's, he worked as a full-time instructor in Virginia Commonwealth University's Political Science Department while completing his dissertation at the University of South Carolina’s Department of Political Science. In addition to teaching at VCU, he taught international relations and comparative politics...
Tobias Heinrich obtained his PhD from Rice University in 2013 and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. His research centers on the domestic politics of foreign policy, which has been published in The Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, British Journal of Political Science, and Journal of Conflict Resolution. He teaches courses in international relations and statistical methodology.
Yoshiharu Kobayashi is an Associate Professor in Global Political Economy & Development at the University of Leeds. Previously he taught at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. His specialty is in the areas of foreign policy analysis, in particular economic sanctions and foreign aid.
Menevis Cilizoglu is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at St. Olaf College. Her research examines the processes connecting foreign policy to international economics, primarily economic sanctions. She examines governments’ decision to impose and terminate economic sanctions, as well as domestic and economic consequences of sanctions on imposer and targeted states.