Publications

Tomorrow, the European Parliament will vote on a proposal that will decide the future of the open Internet in Europe. The proposal is supposed to protect net neutrality, the principle that keeps the Internet an open and free platform, but it contains dangerous loopholes that threaten the future of free speech, innovation, and democracy in Europe.

Wait, didn’t we already win network neutrality? Read more about Why We Should Join the Movement to Save the Internet in Europe

The Orange County Register reports that Alain Bourget, a math professor at Cal State Fullerton, is in danger of serious disciplinary action from his employer. His crime? Refusing to teach the assigned textbook, which costs $180 and was co-written by the chair and vice-chair of his academic department. According to the Register, the mathematics department decided way back in 1984 to “approve” the text and hasn’t revisited its decision since. Read more about College textbooks are a racket

Showtime’s hit show Homeland understands a key political dynamic that pundits and international relations scholars often fail to get. Global politics is less and less about conflicts between states and more and more about actors who work across state boundaries to build alliances and fight battles, often using these alliances to circumvent rules that would prevent them from doing things that they really want to do. Read more about What is it that Homeland understands about international politics but that Robert Kagan simply doesn’t get?

Thomas Oatley is the author of “The Political Economy of American Hegemony: Booms, Buildups and Busts.” His book argues that when America goes to war it borrows money from the rest of the world, creating booms that then lead to economic crises. I asked him four questions about his book.

Henry Farrell: Your new book argues that the most important cause of the recent financial crisis wasn’t financial deregulation but the aftermath of the Iraq war. How could a war create an economic crisis? Read more about Here’s why the Iraq War may have helped trigger the financial crisis