The Baines Report
Aung San Suu Kyi’s Complicity in the Persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.” She was given the award for her involvement in the 1988 pro-democracy uprisings in Myanmar, in which she helped found the […]
Photo: Sarah Blumberg, the author and her cohort shown in front of the Ashte village Community Center The children turned attentively and chorused “Good Morning, Teacher!” as we entered the room. Students sat cross-legged on the floor with their school bags splayed around the perimeter. One class excitedly recited the “continent” song for us and […]
Photo: USAID. This op-ed was first published on The Hill on March 8, 2017. Authors: Catherine Weaver (ceweaver@austin.utexas.edu), Mary Vo (mary.vo@utexas.edu), Lina Nabulsi (lina.nabulsi@utexas.edu), and Cassie Gianni (cassie.gianni@utexas.edu) On International Women’s Day on March 8, U.S. Congress can celebrate women by signaling their intent to fully fund the new Global Food Security Act (GFSA). In June […]
Urban agriculture is somewhat of a fad in Austin. Drive around in Hyde Park or on the Eastside, and you’ll see small plots behind houses, in empty lots, or near a restaurant, often with a sign advertising an organization that can help a neighborhood or household get their own garden started. This isn’t unique to […]
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was fond of saying that the Department of Defense has “more people in military bands than (the State Department has) in the Foreign Service.” His observation reveals a discomfiting inequality in national priorities which has been thrown into sharp relief by battles over the upcoming budget. Far from […]
Take a look at a satellite photo of Africa at night. Apart from a few specks of light over the largest cities, the continent is dark. Millions of rural Africans live without any electrical power at all, and the U.N. Development Program estimates that on a yearly basis the 19.5 million people of New […]
While much of the world continues to languish in a starting and stopping economic recovery, China’s impressive development and economic growth have proceeded with only the slightest of pauses. Its 30-year track record and ability to maintain full speed ahead during the recent downturn have only solidified many observers’ opinions that China provides an […]
In recent articles, I’ve been arguing that America has a teenager’s worst attitude about climate change: We need to stop slouching to our rooms and slamming doors shut, and start engaging developing countries on the issues that matter to them, like adapting to climate change within those countries’ borders and mitigating it within our […]