Institute of Current World Affairs

Gregory Feifer's @gregoryfeifer.bsky.social experience of Russia's 2007 parliamentary elections, the first to be fully, incontrovertibly fixed, serves as a cautionary tale for the future of US democracy given President Trump’s stated aim of interfering with midterms: compass.icwa.org/p/putin-elec...

Earlier this month, Mahli Knutson captured festivities at green spaces near the Pearl River in Guangzhou during China’s weeklong National Day holiday.

With Lebanon's economy in free fall & the country reeling from one crisis after another, grassroots organizations are helping locals meet basic needs & offering models for an alternative economy, Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social reports from Beirut: www.icwa.org/lebanon-gras...

People around the world use #GPS technology without thinking twice. But in her new book, @katherinedunn.bsky.social shows relying on such navigation systems may be increasingly dangerous. Anna Gielas reviews "Little Blue Dot" @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: compass.icwa.org/p/review-is-...

Davao-based victims' groups must get creative, often using codenames when organizing meetings and events. Sabrina Ochoa met discreetly with several of these groups on a recent trip to Davao, the seat of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s influence & power: www.icwa.org/philippines-...

In Japan, more young people are joining protests, new Blakemore-ICWA fellow Julia Walton reports from a monthly demonstration in Tokyo called "19th Action.” Demonstrators criticized the government’s ambitions to expand Japan’s defense capabilities: www.icwa.org/japan-protes...

Newly launched Blakemore-ICWA fellow Julia Walton enjoys a kaiseki course lunch in Tokyo with ICWA trustee and former fellow Katherine Roth Kono @katherineroth.bsky.social (Saudi Arabia, France, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt 1993-1995) and Tom Kono @tomkono.bsky.social.

Organizations that support former President Duterte's victims risk being “red-tagged,” or labeled “communist” with no credible evidence, as a means to repress their work through heightened surveillance & harassment, Sabrina Ochoa reports from the Philippines: www.icwa.org/philippines-...

ICWA wanted to send Kenneth May to the Soviet Union in the 1930s to study centralized economic planning. It helped him navigate the US Red Scare and become a leading mathematician instead, Robert Coalson writes for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/math-an-ic...

Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social visits the Beit Beirut Museum in Lebanon. Housed in a building damaged during the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990, the museum's current exhibits highlight the ongoing destruction of villages & killing & displacement of civilians in South Lebanon by Israeli forces.

Former fellow Tyrone Turner (Brazil 1998-2000) helps shed light on the graves of children buried at detention centers across the US for @npr.org: www.npr.org/2026/10/07/n...

In the Philippines, communities in the seat of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s power, Davao City, experienced extrajudicial killings for decades before he launched a national drug war. Today, Davao-based victims’ groups work from within the belly of the beast: compass.icwa.org/p/you-cant-t...

As his fellowship ends, Rowland Robinson feels emboldened to support coalitions fighting for drug policy change. He plans to start a nonprofit to foster short international policy exchanges for Americans working on the opioid crisis, to promote best practices: www.icwa.org/drug-policy-...

In Irbid, Jordan’s second-largest city, Hussein Ali Abujabal helped found the country's first Waste Recycle Cooperative, which offers democratic decision making, social benefits & solidarity to collectors & recyclers, Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social reports: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

It is possible to lift Americans out of the current addiction nightmare, Rowland Robinson says in his hopeful final dispatch after two years investigating pioneering drug policies in the Netherlands, Portugal & Brazil. And we have a moral and fiscal duty to do so: www.icwa.org/drug-policy-...

What we lose by defunding international exchange programs: Former fellow Bryn Barnard @brynbarnard.bsky.social describes the lifelong impact of his time as a high school student in a Malaysian village for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/the-last-o...

High interest rates as well as religious prohibitions against usury have pushed many Jordanians to seek alternative forms of financing like jam'iya, a lending circle, Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social reports. Rising prices are putting increasing pressure on locals: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

The addiction crisis is solvable, Rowland Robinson says after two years investigating pioneering drug policies in the Netherlands, Portugal & Brazil. In his hopeful final dispatch, he advocates for policies that uphold individual dignity & ensure prosperous communities: www.icwa.org/drug-policy-...

A Natural History of the Spirits: On Ecology, Belonging, and the Sublime, the latest book by former ICWA fellow Jori Lewis @jorilewis.bsky.social (Senegal 2011-2013) will be published by @thenewpress.bsky.social on November 10. thenewpress.org/books/a-natu...

The Philippines' new truth commission will have to step carefully & mitigate risks faced by victims who are vulnerable to legal challenges, harassment & retaliatory violence from perpetrators, many of them active duty police, who still roam free, Sabrina Ochoa reports: www.icwa.org/philippines-...

As the world debates the existential risks of #AI, its widespread adoption in surveillance technology is raising questions about its threat to liberty in a time of mounting authoritarianism, Anna Gielas writes for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/from-keepi...

Former fellow Peter Keller (Argentina, Chile 2000-2002) recently received the George Meléndez Wright Award for Excellence, the GWS's highest award, in recognition of his 32-year career leading wilderness management programs and advancing international conservation. www.georgewrightsociety.org/awards

Salaries in Jordan aren't enough to cover the cost of living, Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social reports from Amman. Jordan relies on imports for most of its food and energy needs, and prices have risen following the US-Israeli war against Iran: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

I am intrigued by A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SPIRITS by Jori Lewis. It's described as for fans of Kimmerer and Lopez. #ewgc

The International Baccalaureate Program has expanded in schools around the world over the last 50 years. Former ICWA fellow & IB teacher @brynbarnardart.bsky.social describes the trials of teaching in Kuwait, where cultural differences have created stumbling blocks: compass.icwa.org/p/the-educat...

Elizabeth Wise visits the Isle of Man, the independent-minded British island known for its Viking-era parliament, Victorian seafront promenades, death-defying motorcycle races and cats without tails: compass.icwa.org/p/postcard-f...

From the archive: Before she was head of ACLU of Massachusetts, @aclum.bsky.social, Carol Rose was an ICWA fellow in Pakistan. In 1992, she witnessed an exodus of Afghan refugees, returning home on a tide of hope after the fall of communist rule: compass.icwa.org/p/return

The Philippines's new Truth and Reconciliation Commission hopes to help legitimize the ICC’s proceedings in the eyes of the Filipino public, help collect data to provide reparations to victims, & open a pathway for collective healing, ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports: www.icwa.org/philippines-...

Really proud to see my piece go up on AFREWATCH and the Global Gateway.

The West’s quest for rare earth minerals is driving big investments in modernizing an export route across Africa. Former ICWA fellow Casey Kelso asks whether locals will also benefit from the Lobito Rail Project or face a new form of natural resources colonialism: compass.icwa.org/p/can-an-afr...

Mahli Knutson interviews several generations of New Guangzhou'ers, including a grandmother who provides for her family as a fruit seller and a woman who grew up in the city who showcases family traditions to spark younger generations' appreciation for China's tea tradition.

Great reporting by Sabrina Ochoa!

In the Jordanian capital Amman, how are residents attempting to solve the problems plaguing the city’s east—lack of job opportunities & green spaces? @dkruzman.bsky.social explores investments in city parks like Queen Rania Abdullah in her first dispatch from Jordan: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

The newly launched Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the Philippines is the first non-government attempt to address the crimes committed during the administration of former President Duterte and his "war on drugs," ICWA fellow Sabrina Ochoa reports: www.icwa.org/philippines-...

Mahli Knutson visits a “handshake building” or “kissing building” in Guangzhou, China to see how some newcomers to the city live. The apartments are built so close together they appear to “kiss” & residents in neighboring buildings can reportedly reach out from their unit windows to shake hands.

Food courier services are connecting Guatemalan sender villages with mirror communities in the US, giving Guatemalan immigrants in Washington, DC, Indiana, Massachusetts and Delaware a taste of home, Joel Millman writes for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/a-moveable...

West Amman is filled with leafy residential districts. East Amman is denser, the streets narrower. The west connotes wealth & refinement; the east, poverty & danger. Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social explores those stereotypes in her first dispatch from Jordan: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

Russia might attack a NATO member country sometime between this fall & 2029, US officials believe. A limited incursion would probably aim to undermine the alliance rather than prevail in a conflict, Peter Dickinson writes: compass.icwa.org/p/putins-big...

From the archive: Carol Rose reports from Pakistan in 1992 about the dilemmas facing Afghan refugees after the collapse of their country’s communist rule: compass.icwa.org/p/return

How does any culture survive through centuries of violence & forced suppression? How does it continue under threat of punishment and even mass death? Brett Simpson @brettvsimpson.bsky.social explores the concept of Indigenous survivance at Norway's Riddu Riđđu festival: www.icwa.org/norway-sami-...

In her first dispatch from Jordan, Diana Kruzman @dkruzman.bsky.social examines the capital's city planning and growing wealth gap between east and west: www.icwa.org/amman-jordan...

In her new book The Traveler, historian @andreawulf.bsky.social makes a spirited bid to restore naturalist, ethnographer, humanist, travel writer, translator, teacher, political journalist & revolutionary George Forster to his since-vanished fame, Anna Gielas writes: compass.icwa.org/p/review-a-m...

Under Norway's forced assimilation, or fornorskning, policies, Sámi language, clothing & countless traditional practices were suppressed, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports. The Riddu Riđđu festival was established in 1991 to reclaim & rebuild Sámi cultural cohesion: www.icwa.org/norway-sami-...

It’s dangerous to be a journalist in the Philippines because a free press is a threat to those in power. But activists are fighting disinformation & experimenting with new kinds of advocacy to demand accountability for former President Duterte's 'war on drugs': www.icwa.org/philippines-...

From the Archive: People are waiting for independence to "drop like a ripe fruit from a tree,” ICWA fellow David Hapgood wrote about Portuguese Guinea in 1962 during the last stages of Portugal’s colonial power. It took another decade to be realized. compass.icwa.org/p/the-portug...