2015

q&a

Reaching the 80 Percent: Q&A with Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar discusses studying agriculture in China, low-income housing in India, and labor markets in Bangladesh, and how research can help the developing world.

commentary

TSA Flunked Its Security Test Big Time — Now What?

We have to accept that humans, no matter how well-trained they are or how dedicated they are to their mission, are just not very good at maintaining laser-like focus while performing repetitive tasks. That does not mean airport security can ever be completely given over to machines.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

What Americans Know About King v. Burwell

An upcoming Supreme Court ruling regarding the Affordable Care Act could impact millions of Americans. Are Americans aware of the court case? And if so, what do they know about it?

Katherine Grace Carman @KGCarman, Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner

commentary

Military Security Contractors Get PTSD, Too

Largely absent from the conversation about the use of military security contractors are the parallel issues of mental health and the deployment-related stress contractors can face.

Molly Dunigan, Carrie M. Farmer @carriefarmer

commentary

Expanding the Caliphate

ISIS in South Asia, which it calls the Islamic State of Khorasan, is larger than most recognize, boasting between several hundred and several thousand fighters. But for now, it is closer to a loose affiliate than a direct arm of the organization.

Seth G. Jones

announcement

Community Partners in Care Receives Accolade

Community Partners in Care, a partnership that uses a unique approach to improve depression care in under-resourced communities, has received the 2015 Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.

commentary

War or Peace? Putting a Price on the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

Today, more than 90 percent of Israelis and Palestinians were born after 1948 and have known nothing other than some version of the impasse. Both sides could be better off with a stable two-state solution. Prolonging the impasse for another generation would have real costs.

Charles P. Ries @charles_ries, C. Ross Anthony

commentary

Social Media as a Tool for Reaching Veterans in Need of Mental Health Care

Reaching veterans to learn more about their mental health care seeking poses a conundrum. They are typically recruited for studies in clinical settings, so those who are not seeking care are not represented. Facebook may be a viable method to reach them.

Eric R. Pedersen @ericrpedersen

commentary

Why the United States Needs an Active Denial Strategy for Asia

The evolving balance of power will require adjustments to U.S. strategy. Making those adjustments will help ensure that the U.S.-China relationship, now merely tense, doesn't escalate to hostile.

Eric Heginbotham, Jacob L. Heim

commentary

G7 Leaders to Discuss Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

The threat of drug resistance can be tackled with the right set of actions, including the development of new antimicrobial drugs and alternative therapies to disrupt the rise in resistance. German Chancellor Merkel has emphasized the importance of a joint global action plan for addressing this growing problem.

Marco Hafner, Jirka Taylor

commentary

Book Review: 'Uphill Battle' by Frank Scotton

This book provides a more sympathetic understanding of the Vietnam War at the working level when everything now known about it was still in the future.

James T. Quinlivan

commentary

Veterans Battle Mental Health Issues After Iraq and Afghanistan

Researchers have made great progress capturing the consequences of coping with injuries sustained in the theater of war, but the emerging picture is shadowed in grays. A series of recent findings presents a bleak portrait of the cost of modern war to service members, their families, and their health care providers.

Terri Tanielian, Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand

commentary

Are Airport Security Screeners Looking for the Wrong Things?

An investigation revealed that the TSA has failed in contraband testing, at a 95 percent rate. This shouldn't be perceived as an indictment of TSA workers. But it may be an indictment of the particular assignments they've been given.

K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley

commentary

Islamic State's Global Expansion

The radical Islamist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is now expanding in roughly a dozen countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia by exploiting local grievances, doling out money, and leveraging its battlefield successes.

Seth G. Jones

commentary

What the Ebola Crisis Taught Us About Emergency Preparedness in Africa

The 2014 Ebola outbreak was the most severe of its kind. At the height of the crisis, 800 to 1,000 new cases were reported per week in Africa across the three most heavily affected countries. As of last week, there were only 12 confirmed cases. What must be done to prevent and mitigate future crises of this nature?

Adeyemi Theophilus Okunogbe