Beyond Intractability in Context Blog

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Posts ordered from most recent to earliest.

  • The New York Times shares a persuasive article explaining why we need to improve society’s ability to wisely regulate genetic technology, discussing legilslation, research, and public conversation. -- Regulating Assisted Evolution -- Nov 10
  • The Atlantic desribes a much more constructive way of continuing the inevitable conflict over same-sex marriage and related issues, taking a long-term view of what the effects of this culture war could be. -- Engaging Perspectives on Sexuality -- Nov 07
  • MISH'S Global Economic Trend Analysis gives two informative reports on the impact that the coming generation of robots will have on labor markets and conflict, discussing both deflationary force and automation. -- Robots and a Changing Economy -- Nov 07
  • The Washigont Post's fact-checker article describes the misleading political debate on the mass incarceration problem, examining both parties' claims. -- Fact-checking the Mass Incarceration Debate -- Nov 05
  • As The Atlantic describes, the startling increase in white middle-class death rates reveals an underlying despair, and this phenomenon is driving US political conflict. -- Middle-class Deaths of Despair -- Nov 04
  • Vox gives an example of the way in which positive and negative feedback loops contribute to the United States’ political divide as well as growing inequality. -- Feedback Loops of Inequality -- Nov 04
  • The New York Times explains how a new word, “ScamPAC," describes a new phenomena in American politics: political action committees that foster hostility for financial gain. -- Rebel Political Action Committees -- Nov 04
  • The Atlantic gives a persuasive argument dispelling the myth that US culture wars may be ending with “progressive” victory, sharing data from across the country. -- Liberals are Losing the Culture Wars -- Nov 04
  • The Search for Common Ground describes a mass communication-based strategy for changing the way in which the people of Nepal think about governance: A theater piece called Madam Prime Minister. -- Nepal's Mass Communication on Governance -- Nov 03
  • The Washington Post's discussion of the Syrian conflict though conflict mapping is an interesting and positive development in the mainstream US press. -- Conflict Mapping Syria -- Nov 03
  • In considering Palestinian perspective, the Jewish Magazine Mosaic asks a hard question worth considering: Might Oslo’s failure stem from a misunderstanding of Palestinian goals? -- What are Palestinians' Goals? -- Nov 03
  • The Atlantic's analysis of Russian histpry and contemporary Russia explains that in order to understand a rival or an adversary, it’s important to understand their core interests. -- Understanding Interests -- Oct 31
  • The New York Times came out with a major article on arbitration, explaining that there is a problem with sugarcoating injustice in the United States. -- Arbitration and Justice -- Oct 31
  • The Washington Post shares a sad case of an activist's murder in Israel, highlighting the role that social media is playing in fomenting hate, and causes us to ask what can be done. -- Spreading Hate through Social Media -- Oct 30
  • In discussing experimental thinking in the CIA, Foreign policy gives an interesting example of how to institutionalize “outside-the-box” thinking. -- Transformative Thinking in Intelligence -- Oct 30
  • The Washington Post provides a good overview article with excellent links on the debate over “microaggressions” and larger social justice efforts, exploring recent debates around the concept. -- Microagressions and a Culture of Victimhood -- Oct 28
  • The Atlantic explains the surprising progress that the 2010 Plain Writing Act has made in the war against inscrutable, jargon-laden writing in government - something that would be good to extend to academia, as well. -- Needlessly Complex Writing -- Oct 28
  • Thomas Edsall shares a hopeful story of how Citizens United is leading to innovative efforts to address the problem of money in politics in the New York Times, describing the current state of campaign finance in detail. -- A Silver Lining to Citizens United? -- Oct 28
  • As the Arms Control Association explains, the ongoing modernization of the “triad,” or the strategic nuclear arsenal, demonstrates that nuclear weapons are not just a relic of the Cold War. -- A Modern Nuclear Arsenal -- Oct 27
  • The New York Times shares disturbing stories of law schools exploiting students through exorbitant costs of education - something everyone in higher education should fight against. -- The Law School Debt Crisis -- Oct 25
  • As the New York Times describes, the security of undersea cables is another area exacerbating old superpower tensions between Russia and the United States. -- Data Cables Cause Superpower Tension -- Oct 25
  • As the Washington Post describes, recently declassified documents reveal how close we came to nuclear war in the early 1980's, emphasizing our need to learn to learn from past mistakes so as to not come so close to disaster again. -- When We Came Close to Nuclear War -- Oct 24
  • The Atlantic provides a good explanation of the problems associated with the term “inequality.” Inequity would be better term to use. -- Equality or Equity? -- Oct 23
  • NPR's Hidden Brain podcast explains “switch tracking” (responding to feedback by changing the subject) - another cognitive dynamic with big conflict implications. -- Switchtracking -- Oct 22
  • For those worried about Ukraine and Russian expansionism, this enlightening Foreign Policy article on the difficulties Russia is facing will provide good perspective. -- The Difficulties of Russian Expansionism -- Oct 20

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