United States Archives

Analyses

United States

The US Supreme Court has issued another shocking but unsurprising ruling that arbitrarily dispenses with precedents and upends long-settled law at the expense of the historically disempowered: now African American and Latino students will be deprived of “affirmative action” programmes considering race in university admissions. However, the assumption there was a shared originary understanding of the Constitution is false since the Constitution has been aggressively colour-conscious throughout its history, mainly at the expense of minority groups

International Affairs
China Plays Go while NATO Plays Chess
Seán Golden 29 May 2023

Chess pursues the elimination of pieces; Go the encirclement of territory. Against US containment policy, China is expanding where there is space to expand.
International Affairs
Can Iran’s “Revolt of the Hungry” Revitalize the Nuclear Deal?
Marina Forti 11 July 2022

A new wave of popular protests against mounting prices piles pressure on conservative president Ebrahim Raissì. But he only can walk a fine diplomatic line.
International Affairs
A Forgotten Middle East Awaits Joe Biden’s Visit
Claudia De Martino 30 June 2022

An Israel with a collapsed government will host Joe Biden in mid-July, amid uncertain political legacy and perspectives.
International Affairs
China, US and Rare Earth Elements: All You Need to Know
Giovanni Panzeri 19 May 2022

In recent decades the world has gradually understood the importance of transitioning to a clean energy economy, buoyed by the prospective of catastrophic environmental collapse. However, few know that this transition largely rests on the employment of a few critical minerals whose global demand is set to skyrocket in the near future. Of particular importance in this case are the so called “rare earth” minerals, which have been at the center of US-China tensions on trade and technology in the recent decade. This article will give a brief account of the current situation regarding the rare earth elements supply chain and how it has been at the center of Us-China competition.
International Affairs
China, US and the Semiconductor War. All you Need to Know
Giovanni Panzeri 12 May 2022

In the present world computers, cars, phones, televisions, refrigerators have become commodities which are so present that it is difficult for many to imagine a life without them. All these items work thanks to tiny devices called semiconductors. But what are they? How are they produced? And how have they ended up at the center of the present US-China trade war? This article will attempt to give a brief account of the present US-China competition on semiconductors, how it is affected by external factors like the Covid-19 pandemic, and what it might entail for the future.
Political Theory
Democracy, War and the Inherent Threat of Personalistic
Authoritarianism. A Conversation with Daniel Ziblatt
Simone Disegni , Jonathan Laurence 8 April 2022

Yes, liberal democracies do need to build up a cohesive alliance to counter the threats – militarily and in the war of ideas – that are posed by aggressive authoritarianism, but without falling into two dangerous pitfalls – the author of How Democracies Die warns: to inadvertently bring all illiberal regimes into a united geopolitical front, and to think that the threat of personalistic despotism is just somewhere “out there”, and not also within the fragile corps of Western democracies themselves.
Media and Communication
Truth and the Rest. The Conservative Quest for a Split Internet
Seth Moskowitz 15 March 2022

Donald Trump’s social network is only the latest attempt at forging a new right-only digital ecosystem. How serious is the risk of a divided Internet?
International Affairs
A Glimmer of Hope from Young Russians and Ukrainians
Nataliya Gumenyuk 14 February 2022

For young Ukrainians, Russia represents authoritarianism and corruption, and Ukraine democratic and liberal values. Can they find an ally in Russian youth, wonders jounralist Nataliya Gumeniuk?
International Affairs
The NATO Trap that Ukraine Can Help Defuse
Alexander J. Motyl 14 February 2022

The muscular fight around Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO is largely an artifiicial one, argues prof. Alexander Motyl.