New Blog Posts

  • Spratly Islands: China’s Artificial Expansion and Why it Matters

    Andre Avanessians, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives In the summer of 2014, news sources reported China’s plan to expand its international influence by creating an artificial island within the Spratly Islands, a disputed archipelago of reefs, atolls, and islands located in the South China Sea. The Spratleys, although largely unexplored, are situated within a…

  • ESSA Moves Education Forward, but NCLB Shouldn’t be Completely Left Behind

    Kerry Belodoff, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives In a bipartisan effort that President Obama called a “Christmas miracle,” the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed in mid-December after eight years of delay, replacing the much–maligned No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. ESSA marks a considerable shift in authority over education, providing states and…

  • Even When Valuing “Morality,” Defunding Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Add Up

    Chelsea Lenhart, MPA, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives 2015 shifted the political climate and put Planned Parenthood on the defensive. In July, the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress released undercover videos showing what they claimed was evidence of Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue remains. The videos acted as kerosene to a small fire, and…

  • Opinion: Is India’s contingency on international climate finance reasonable?

    Ziyue Zhu, MPP As one of the fast-growing and largest developing countries, India has a  responsibility to tackle climate change. It is also one of the key players in the  international commitment to confront climate change. Early this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored India’s commitment  to scale up renewable energy development. Modi stressed the…

  • The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Everything you want to know but are afraid to ask

    Konark Sikka, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives Earlier this year, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement was hammered out in secrecy. Negotiations began in 2008 and updates have been reported over the past seven  years, but its profile was elevated this year as the negotiations neared a conclusion. The full text of the TPP was…