October 2013 Edition

Why U.S. Financial Hegemony Will Endure

Sarah Bauerle Danzman and W. Kindred Winecoff

Why U.S. Financial Hegemony Will Endure
Still at the center. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers)
The United States not only continues to dominate global finance but has become even more central since the 2008 crisis. How did this happen?
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About The Author:

Sarah Bauerle Danzman is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. W. Kindred Winecoff is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana University Bloomington. This piece is adapted from an article in the March 2013 edition of Perspectives on Politics.

The Changing Face of Violence

Joel F. Harrington

The Changing Face of Violence
How far have we come? Execution of a corrupt finance minister and thieving youth in Augsburg, 1579. (Credit: Zentralbibliothek Zurich)
A debate has kicked off among scholars on whether we have become inherently more peaceful. A more important question is whether we actually understand the many forms violence takes.
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About The Author:

Joel F. Harrington is Professor of History at Vanderbilt University and author of The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013).

Why Central Bank Transparency May Be Overrated

Brigitte Granville

Why Central Bank Transparency May Be Overrated
Can we talk? Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, Timothy Geithner, and Gary Gensler at a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting, March 17, 2011. (Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Be it ever so brilliant, communication in monetary policy is no panacea in today’s world of slow growth, high debt, and fiscal policy uncertainty.
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About The Author:

Brigitte Granville is Professor of International Economics and Economic Policy at the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University, London. Her most recent book is Remembering Inflation (Princeton University Press, 2013).

A Grand Illusion

Euny Hong

A Grand Illusion
Members only: In the first row, Paul Nizan (second from left) and Jean-Paul Sartre (fourth from left) among the first-year students, Ecole normale superieure, 1922 (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)
How the top French schools remain incubators for the elites despite the nation’s ostensibly egalitarian politics.
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About The Author:

Euny Hong is a New York-based journalist and author, previously with The Financial Times and France 24. Her new book, Welcome to the Future: South Korea’s Plan to Own the World’s Pop Culture, will be published by Picador Books in early 2014. You can follow her on Twitter @euny.

Merkel’s Victory, Or How All Politics Is Local

Kai Arzheimer

Merkel’s Victory, Or How All Politics Is Local
Angela Merkel savors her victory on election night, September 22, 2013. (Marcus Brandt/AFP/Getty Images)
An unspoken consensus across Europe to avoid upsetting anything ahead of the German election did just that: Europe hardly featured in the campaign.
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About The Author:

Kai Arzheimer is Professor of Political Science at the University of Mainz, Germany, and a visiting fellow in the Department of Government, University of Essex, U.K. You can read his blog here and follow him on Twitter @kai_arzheimer.

The Professor as Digital Native

Interview with Mary Beard

The Professor as Digital Native
Professor Mary Beard. (Photo credit: Robin Cormack)
Cambridge Professor Mary Beard has legions of followers on Twitter and has been blogging for more than eight years for the TLS. In September, Symposium Magazine sat down with her as she was traveling through Washington, D.C.
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About The Author:

Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, as well as classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, where she writes the popular blog, A Don’s Life. You can follow her on Twitter @wmarybeard.

When Does Digital Activism Pack a Punch?

Philip N. Howard

When Does Digital Activism Pack a Punch?
Egyptian activists check Twitter updates on eve of elections, Cairo, November 2011. (Photo by Kim Badawi/Getty Images)
A new project is collecting data to offer insights from digital campaigns around the world.
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About The Author:

Philip N. Howard is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington and the School of Public Policy at the Central European University. You can follow him on his blog and on Twitter @pnhoward.

Being ‘Different’ in a World of High Achievers

Allison Stevens

Being ‘Different’ in a World of High Achievers
Rachel Adams, author of "Raising Henry." (Credit: Eileen Barroso)
A Columbia professor writes about the challenges of raising a Down syndrome child – and the mixed reactions among her colleagues.
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About The Author:

Allison Stevens lives near Washington, D.C., and writes about health, women’s issues, parenting, and politics.