In the News

495 Items

101. 

     2021’s Greenest States

     April 16, 2021

     In order to highlight the greenest states and call out those doing a poor job of caring for the environment, WalletHub compared each of the 50 states on 25 key metrics. For more insight into eco-friendliness at the household, government, and global levels, they asked several questions to a panel of environmental and economic experts including Jason Scorse, program chair of the MA in International Environmental Policy and director of the Center for the Blue Economy. Please note that this article is only available in the U.S.

102. 

     Compassionate Courage Challenges Systemic Racism

     April 14, 2021

     Dr. Pushpa Iyer writes in the Conversation about how compassionate courage moves beyond ‘cancel culture’ to challenge systemic racism—but it’s hard work.

103. QAnon’s Conspiracy Theories Stoked by China, Russia: Terrorism Expert

     April 13, 2021

     Substantial “foreign influence” has been identified in posts containing material peddling conspiracies fostered by the QAnon movement, according to former U.S. counterterrorism official Professor Jason Blazakis.

104. Where is Angela Knippenberg Now?

     April 2, 2021

     Netflix’s ‘The Serpent’ is an eight-part true-crime drama series that profiles the life and actions of French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who targeted tourists throughout the Hippie Trail between 1975 and 1976. Angela Knippenberg, now Kane, played a crucial role in translating all of Marie-Andrée Leclerc’s diary entries for evidence against Sobhraj. In fact, as seen on ‘The Serpent,’ she was the one who cataloged everything. Angela has an honorary doctorate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

105. 

     When It Comes to Nukes, Is It the North Koreans Who Are Irrational—Or Us?

     April 1, 2021

     According to Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control specialist and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies, “If things stay on the path that they’re on at the moment, North Korea is going to test a bunch of new stuff.”

106. Biden Administration asks for volunteers to help place migrant children

     March 31, 2021

     As the number of migrant children in the U.S. surges, the Biden Administration is asking for federal workers to help care for and place unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the southern border. “Today we have a crisis in which the treatment they are receiving is not the treatment they deserve,” said Professor William Arrocha of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

107. 

     The ship blocking the Suez is finally unstuck, but we could see bottlenecks like this again

     March 30, 2021

     The Suez Canal is what experts, like Professor Wei Liang of the Middlebury Institute, refer to as a choke point, and the world witnessed what happens when a choke point suddenly closes completely. Another global choke point on Liang’s radar is the Malacca Strait, off the coast of Malaysia. Popular Science spoke to Professor Liang who teaches in the MA in International Trade and Economic Diplomacy program about these choke points.

108. House Republicans’ claim about ‘known or suspected terrorists’ at the border

     March 18, 2021

     “Bottom line: Most terrorists are already here — they are American citizens these days” - Middlebury Institute Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies Professor Jason Blazakis, director of the Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism was interviewed in Washington Post story on claims that terrorist are entering the United States via the Mexican border.

109. How New is the New Extremist Threat? Preliminary Conclusions from the U.S. Capitol Arrests Data

     March 17, 2021

     We believe there are a variety of demographics, beliefs, intentions, levels of organization, and propensity to commit acts of violence represented in the Capitol arrests. And, while President Donald Trump’s rhetoric brought these individuals together, it would be a mistake to label them with a broad-brush stroke and conclude that they are all extremists who see violence as a tool for political change. Instead, the Biden administration should treat the Jan. 6 cases going forward with more nuance. Not all Capitol rioters were violent, not all Capitol rioters were extremist, and not all Capitol rioters were part of a mass movement. - Nate Rosenblatt, and Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies Professor Jason Blazakis, director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism argue in op-ed published by War on the Rocks.

110. Iran reveals underground ‘missile city’ as regional tensions rise

     March 16, 2021

     “The IRGC in general places a lot of emphasis on using missiles to project power,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. The missile city is “indicative of how much importance the IRGC Navy places on conventional missiles in projecting its power into the Gulf.” - from CNBC