M.A. in Democracy and Governance from Georgetown University (2012). Former political science professor. Writes on American politics, international affairs, philosophy, and literature. Based in New York City.
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The spat between Ben Affleck, Sam Harris, and Bill Maher on the HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher over Islam has become so heated and escalated that even 10 days hence, it has still managed to survive the erosive force of the 24-hour news cycle in a way
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Since the incursion of ISIS into western and northern Iraq, groups normally at odds are forming ad hoc coalitions to repel the jihadist army. Following the U.S. airstrikes on August 8 to defend Yazidis trapped on Sinjar Mountain, members of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) joined
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In late August, economists, scholars, and central bankers from across the world gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to make sense of current economic indicators and to plot a path forward for monetary and economic policy in both the United States and the rest of the world. Speaking at this summit
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One of the fundamental laws of psephology (the study of elections) is Duverger’s Law. This “law” affirms that in single-member districts, where the winner is whoever wins the most votes (plurality voting), the system will produce two major parties. The presence of third parties naturally encourages strategic voting, in
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Every semester when I teach my students about the media, I present them with the neglected history of American investigative journalism. I tell them about Ida B. Wells, who documented lynchings across the South in the late 1800s. I tell them about the muckrakers like Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and
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As IVN contributor AJ Signieri described in June, third parties in Illinois struggle to secure a place on the state’s general election ballots. If a party’s nominee for governor does not cross the 5 percent threshold, the party is considered a “new party” and must collect at least
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Since President Obama's inauguration and Rick Santelli's movement-making call to action that inspired the tea party, national politics has been a triangular affair, with the Republican "establishment" caught in the middle between an anti-incumbent reaction and a seemingly united Democratic front. This triangular dynamic
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While it would be an overstatement to claim that Russia and China possess identical goals and interests -- Russia is focused on its western frontier with Europe while China has its sights set on the South China Sea off its eastern coastline -- the two regional powers have struck harmony
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On Monday, July 21, IVN contributor Joshua Alvarez examined how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has abused his power to "fill the tree" -- clog the limited number of amendment slots with his own amendments -- in order to block Republican proposals. There is convincing evidence that
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When journalist Adi Ignatius asked Vladimir Putin what his favorite Beatles song was in late 2007, the Russian leader replied, “Yesterday.” For some commentators, this expression of nostalgia is enough to convince them that Putin is the second coming of Stalin and that the Cold War is ending more than
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The 95 percent of Americans who eat chicken may want to take notice: the inspections regime for processing chickens and turkeys is likely to undergo major changes as the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) pushes onward in its expansion of a pilot program that will apply
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The Roberts Court, which began in 2005 and has been altered by two replacements — Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010 — has been asked to clarify the precise nature of the church-state relationship on several matters. One topic the court addressed is whether religious symbols may be displayed