Institute of Current World Affairs
@icwa.org
We advance American understanding of international cultures and affairs by sending young professionals abroad on two-year independent writing fellowships.
On the ten-year anniversary of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's 'war on drugs,' victims and their advocates gather in Quezon City to demand accountability. Sabrina Ochoa reports from Manila: www.icwa.org/philippines-...
Ten years of post-truth - ICWA
On the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Philippines "war on drugs," victims are demanding accountability, ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports.
icwa.org
AI’s real threat isn't superhuman or wicked machines but corporate execs harboring old motives: weakening organized labor, inflating valuations & dodging accountability. Anna Gielas reviews @doctorow.pluralistic.net's The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: compass.icwa.org/p/review-who...
Review: Who serves whom?
Technology should help humans, a new book argues, not the other way around.
compass.icwa.org
Brett Simpson @brettvsimpson.bsky.social explores the politics of grindadráp or "pilot whale killing" on the Faroe Islands, a controversial practice embedded in colonial legacies, economic vulnerabilities & gender and generational dynamics: www.icwa.org/whaling-faro...
A whale of a controversy - ICWA
ICWA Fellow Brett Simpson reports about pilot whale killing on the Faroe Islands during the Ocean Connectivity Conference.
icwa.org
For @thenation.com, I wrote about the weapons supply chain, direct action & what this moment asks of journalists: www.thenation.com/article/acti...
The Weapons Manufacturer Next Door
It’s been six years since I began attending pro-Palestine demonstrations. The most recent campaign at the Brooklyn Navy Yard feels different.
thenation.com
Progress toward reforming the Philippines’ Dangerous Drugs Act has been hampered by the fragmentation of the advocacy movement as groups split over approaches to decriminalization & regulation, medical & recreational drug use & more, ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports: www.icwa.org/philippines-...
Prohibition, populism and public health - ICWA
Filipinos are advocating to reform the country's harsh drug law after former President Duterte's 'war on drugs,' ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports.
icwa.org
"A bay of blood: That was my first thought when I saw the deep scarlet hue in Tórshavn Bay." Brett Simpson @brettvsimpson.bsky.social explores the controversial practice of grindadráp or "pilot whale killing" on the Faroe Islands: www.icwa.org/whaling-faro...
A whale of a controversy - ICWA
ICWA Fellow Brett Simpson reports about pilot whale killing on the Faroe Islands during the Ocean Connectivity Conference.
icwa.org
Marvin Kalb describes the careful, often secret backchannel diplomacy that led to US President Richard Nixon's history-making trip to China and a new, promising chapter in US-China relations in February 1972: compass.icwa.org/p/the-ping-h...
The ping heard round the world
Nixon’s opening to China
compass.icwa.org
Behind the appearance of normality in Jordan, airstrikes are raising questions about the country's uncomfortable dependence on the US, @dkruzman.bsky.social reports from Amman. compass.icwa.org/p/letter-fro...
Letter from Amman
Behind an appearance of normality, airstrikes on Jordan are raising questions about its uncomfortable dependence on the US.
compass.icwa.org
I landed in Amman on July 2 to begin my @icwa.org fellowship. One week later, the U.S. resumed airstrikes on Iran — and then I began hearing air raid sirens. I wrote a short piece on the mood in Jordan right now. open.substack.com/pub/compass1...
Letter from Amman
Behind an appearance of normality, airstrikes on Jordan are raising questions about its uncomfortable dependence on the US.
open.substack.com
I've started a new Substack! I'll be reposting my @icwa.org dispatches here, as well as occasionally sharing other content. Follow along: dispatchesaftercollapse.substack.com
After Collapse | Diana Kruzman | Substack
Dispatches from Middle Eastern societies surviving through and adapting to multiple and intertwined crises, from economic to social, political and environmental. Click to read After Collapse, by Diana...
dispatchesaftercollapse.substack.com
Former fellow Ann Mische reports from Brazil in 1989 about how the labor disputes of poor & illiterate Amazon forest workers had developed one of the moment’s most innovative & politically defiant proposals for land reform & ecologically sound economic development: compass.icwa.org/p/encounter-...
Encounter in Amazonia
Ann Mische reports from Brazil in 1989 about the roots of the environmental movement.
compass.icwa.org
"As the thrashing whale pod swam toward the beach, locals waded into the water, hooks in hand." Brett Simpson @brettvsimpson.bsky.social explores the political and cultural complexities of grindadráp or "pilot whale killing" on the Faroe Islands: www.icwa.org/whaling-faro...
A whale of a controversy - ICWA
ICWA Fellow Brett Simpson reports about pilot whale killing on the Faroe Islands during the Ocean Connectivity Conference.
icwa.org
From the archive: Dick Nolte reports in 1952 about a "turning point” US-Arab relations: a US mission to fly stranded pilgrims to Mecca that, more than any of our aid or protestations of friendship, helped "reverse the tide of Arab-ill will." compass.icwa.org/p/operation-...
Operation Hajj
Dick Nolte reports in 1952 about a "turning point” US-Arab relations: a US mission to fly stranded pilgrims to Mecca.
compass.icwa.org
Cuba is grappling with the worst energy crisis in its history, exacerbated by a US oil blockade and tightening economic sanctions. As record numbers are leaving, Anna Heikkinen speaks to those who have decided to stay: compass.icwa.org/p/living-in-...
Living in Cuba
As the economy approaches a breaking point under US sanctions, historic numbers of people are leaving. But some are deciding to stay.
compass.icwa.org
After the terrible legacy of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” Filipinos are advocating to replace the country's harsh drugs law with more progressive harm reduction policies, ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports from Manila: www.icwa.org/philippines-...
Prohibition, populism and public health - ICWA
Filipinos are advocating to reform the country's harsh drug law after former President Duterte's 'war on drugs,' ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports.
icwa.org
The economic wealth generated by Brazil's mines has come with an environmental & human cost. Dam failures killed 300 people, displaced tens of thousands & flooded nearby nature preserves with mine waste, contaminating river systems, Rowland Robinson reports: www.icwa.org/brazil-mines...
Underground in Brazil’s mines - ICWA
As Brazil negotiates international access to its critical mineral resources, ICWA fellow Rowland Robinson reports about Brazil's rich mining history.
icwa.org
Former fellow Jill Winder reflects on Germans’ complex relationship with their national flag, and how that relationship changed between 2002, when she first moved to Berlin, and 2006, when Germany hosted the #WorldCup: compass.icwa.org/p/the-return...
The return of the German flag
Jill Winder reflects in 2006 on Germans’ complex relationship with their national flag.
compass.icwa.org
Mahli Knutson shares photos from the Clifford Estate, a gated residential neighborhood in Guangzhou, China, northwest of Hong Kong.
Kuwait’s film industry is the beating heart of Arab movies, producing some 90% of all Gulf Arab television drama programming. For Compass, former fellow Bryn Barnard @brynbarnard.bsky.social describes its history, along with his own experiences as an actor & writer: compass.icwa.org/p/this-time-...
This time without vampires
Cinema and television in Kuwait
compass.icwa.org
As President Trump & Brazilian President Lula Inacio da Silva negotiated access to Brazil's vast critical mineral deposits in May, ICWA fellow Rowland Robinson explored the country's gold mines & exploitative mining history: www.icwa.org/brazil-mines...
Underground in Brazil’s mines - ICWA
As Brazil negotiates international access to its critical mineral resources, ICWA fellow Rowland Robinson reports about Brazil's rich mining history.
icwa.org
As the US celebrates its 250th anniversary, Edouard-François de Lencquesaing remembers the College of St. Omer in France, which taught Enlightenment values to over 100 boys from the American colonies, including several of the Founding Fathers: compass.icwa.org/p/a-french-s...
A French school and the philosophical education of America’s Founding Fathers
The College of St. Omer had an outsized influence on US independence.
compass.icwa.org
From African slave engineers to European mechanical engineers, Brazil has historically used foreign expertise and capital to extract wealth from its vast natural resources. With the new rush for critical minerals, Brazil is at a crossroads, Rowland Robinson reports: www.icwa.org/brazil-mines...
Underground in Brazil’s mines - ICWA
As Brazil negotiates international access to its critical mineral resources, ICWA fellow Rowland Robinson reports about Brazil's rich mining history.
icwa.org
Launching fellow Mahli Knutson stops in Shanghai en route to her base in Guangzhou, China.
The EU is committing to developing critical rare materials. But after years of strategic blunders, reducing dependence on China will take more investment and bolder collective action, Marco Zatterin reports for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/the-eu-wan...
The EU wants to make rare earths less rare
But reducing dependence on China will take more investment and bolder collective action.
compass.icwa.org
"As the sun began to set, the boat veered to port and the cappuccino-colored expanse of water stretched to the horizon. A distant bank was the only sign that we had finally arrived at the main artery of the great Amazon River." Rowland Robinson explores the Amazon: compass.icwa.org/p/up-the-ama...
Up the Amazon River
The bustling jungle region is virgin only in the imagination.
compass.icwa.org
From the Archive: Former fellow Erik Guyot reports on a Philippine coup in 1987 when his source, Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, attempted to overthrow President Corazon Aquino: compass.icwa.org/p/gringo-com...
Gringo Comes to Manila
Erik Guyot reports from the Philippines in 1987 about his source's attempt to help overthrow the president.
compass.icwa.org
The Philippines' energy crisis and the ICC investigation into former president Duterte's crimes against humanity showcase how outside influences could affect Filipino perceptions of the legitimacy of international institutions, Sabrina Ochoa reports from Manila: www.icwa.org/philippines-...
When a far-off war comes knocking at your door - ICWA
The US-Israeli war against Iran is prompting an energy crisis in the Philippines, ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports from Manila and regions.
icwa.org
Is Palantir CEO Alex Karp's purchase of property in northern Norway a security threat? Or just an uncomfortable reminder to local politicians of the deep-burrowing global influence of a handful of American billionaires? @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports: www.icwa.org/palantir-nor...
In the US, Latin American consulates are helping their citizens navigate life as ‘illegals’ in an economy that desperately needs them, Joel Millman reports for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/going-mobi...
Going mobile: In the US, diplomacy in the era of mass deportation
Navigating life for ‘illegals’ in an economy that desperately needs them.
compass.icwa.org
