The recent Bangor Daily News article “Slower visa approval could worsen Maine’s doctor shortage” made me think about the dilemma of importing foreign talent to solve a local problem, something very similar to what happened when the U.S. Soccer Federation hired the German footballer Jurgen Klinsmann to steer U.S. soccer (football) in the right direction […]
At the recent Camden Conference global experts in the field of refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDP) discussed the importance of their work and their contribution to solving the humanitarian cause.[1] The conversation quickly escalated into a Western anti-Trump rally and a plea for greater financial support for multilateral agencies working on the issue of […]
After the initial release of the Russian dossiers into the public sphere, I tried to take a (naive) journalistic standpoint, and defend the media’s publication of the private information. I attempted to justify CNN and argue that it was their obligation as a professional and credible news source to publicize the Russian dossiers. Upon reflection, […]
President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech was concrete and to the point, and in the case of Foreign Policy it delineated a shift away from Internationalism and toward a nationalist Realist approach. By declaring that, “from this day forward, a new vision will govern our land,” he was telling the American people and the international community […]
It has been difficult to write and put together cohesive thoughts after the elections in November, not because of the result but because of the reactions from social, political, and economic actors that supported the Democratic Party. In this past month I have preferred to observe the anger unfold from the sideline then to become […]
The wave of electoral shocks has now reached us. Brexit, the Colombian vote against peace, and now Donald Trump’s presidential election victory shows that the experts, analysts, statisticians, the polling systems, and media are pure bluff. The truth continues to rest on the backs of constituents and not on the backs of the speculative voices […]
Throughout history, acts of hate and violence have been committed against humans on the basis of religion. If we really believe that religion is about the promotion of peace, why do we allow the behaviors of our societies to prove otherwise? All religions of the world have had their moments of compassion and they have […]
This past weekend Colombian citizens voted against the peace agreement that their government had negotiated for three years with the guerrilla group FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia). After fifty-two years of civil war it seemed likely that Colombians had finally achieved a peaceful resolution to their internal conflict and that civil society would overwhelmingly […]
It is with great skepticism that I reflect on the recent signing of the peace agreement between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. I grew up in Bogotá, Colombia and experienced directly and indirectly the multi-layers of the most recent Colombian Civil War. Within this fifty-two year old Civil War […]
Dear people next door, We have thin walls that separate small spaces. I can hear your television from my living room. Your children watch cartoons in the morning, and I can hear old musicals playing on TCM at night. Sometimes your eldest sings along, I think my Father used to watch those when he was […]
