Tabla de contenidos para July - August 2016 en Foreign Policy

High-Tech Rare-earth elements are in circuits, sensors, screens, speakers, and batteries. All but one of the 17 are used in smartphones (and that’s because promethium is radioactive). Without them, a laptop would be twice as heavy and would lose that brilliant display. KEY PROCESS STEPS Producers churn through mountains of material to get just a cup of product. For the light elements, which account for most of the world’s output, the processing—not the mining—is the really dirty part (see above). Waste can be contained; China just hasn’t been doing it. Defense These metals are vital in lasers, radar, sonar, night-vision systems, missile guidance, smart bombs, jet engines, and even the alloys on armored vehicles. In February, the U.S. Government Accountability Office called on the Pentagon to develop secure supplies of…

AFRICA Cape Town, South Africa NONFICTION The Number: One Man’s Search for Identity in the Cape Underworld and Prison Gangs (2004) Jonny Steinberg In the true story of Magadien Wentzel, leader of the 28s, a notorious prison gang, Steinberg offers a rare glimpse of Cape Town’s criminal networks and life on the margins of one of the world’s most beautiful, violent, and unequal cities. — Tau Tavengwa, co-editor and publisher of Cityscapes FICTION Bom Boy (2011) Yewande Omotoso Omotoso’s Bom Boy is a contemporary Cape Town novel that no South African—black, white, or brown—could have written. She has cultural distance from the racial morass that is South Africa, and she skillfully captures the tensions at the country’s heart. — Olufemi Terry, author of “Stickfighting Days” Lagos, Nigeria NONFICTION Lagos: A…

"AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS REQUIRES A MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH, AS REFLECTED IN THE MS IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM'S EIGHT CONCENTRATIONS." -Verajelinek, divisional dean, NYU School of Professional Studies, Center for Global Affairs The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Center for Global Affairs (CGA) focuses on emerging global trends and developments and provides an interdisciplinary approach with practical applications to global challenges. "In the current refugee crisis, more people have been forced to flee their homes than at any other time since World War II," says Divisional Dean Vera Jelinek. "This has led to an unprecedented number of refugees, whose efforts to escape conflict are creating massive political, humanitarian, social, and economic upheaval throughout the Middle East and Europe. An understanding of the magnitude of the…

What do you get when you mix two centuries of excellence in global studies, a renowned program in area studies with instruction in 70 languages, scholars on the cutting edge of interdisciplinary learning, and a major new influx of funding? Indiana University's new School of Global and International Studies (SGIS) builds on a long tradition of excellence. Its innovative, multidisciplinary programs emphasize cultural fluency and applied social policy, based on the premise that to change the world, first you need to understand it. "The blend of area studies with policy studies sets us apart among international affairs schools," says Lee Feinstein, founding dean. "We want people to understand different cultures and different global influences." In addition to having opportunities to study abroad and pursue internationally oriented internships, SGIS students benefit…

Students come to the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota with a commitment to spend their professional lives striving to make the world a better place. They have opportunities to jump-start their careers through internships and professional experiences in Washington, D.C., and other U.S. locations, and abroad. Humphrey School graduates pursue careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors with a shared goal of advancing the common good. The school's Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree brings together political science, economics, statistics, management, and the social sciences. Most students in the program's Global Policy area select one of three tracks: U.S. Foreign and International Security Policy; International Development; or Global Human Rights and Humanitarianism. A new Master of Human Rights (MHR) program prepares students to…

HOLLY ANDRES “My most recent personal photo project, ‘The Fallen Fawn,’ is a fictional narrative that chronicles two sisters discovering a woman’s belongings strewn throughout the woods behind their house. The young, naive girls unearth a treasure trove, potentially containing a sinister secret, but the whereabouts of the woman remain a mystery. I tried to achieve a similarly chilling tone for the cover of FOREIGN POLICY. The photos were shrouded in shadows, but they also nodded to a more complex story, the full details of which are yet to be discovered. While my stylistic approach for FP was very much influenced by ‘The Fallen Fawn,’ the fact that I was simulating an incredibly tragic—and true—story profoundly impacted my process. I found myself thinking a lot about the victim, Dahlia Yehia,…

“Not so long ago, extremists in Europe seized power violently. In Spain, my country, Francisco Franco ushered in his dictatorship with a war; Adolf Hitler, long before he started conquering other countries, employed racist propaganda and intimi dation tactics to become Germany’s chancellor. Today, though, wolves don sheep’s clothing to enter the flock: Far-right politicians climb to power using the trappings and tools of democracy. They camouflage themselves as mere ‘conservatives’ and espouse platforms that imply progress but in reality are retrograde. They garner votes by promising employment that would come at the poor’s expense, national unity based on dominance and submission, and security that overrides freedom. They exist beyond Europe, too, yet Western countries seem not to see the Trojan horses rolling in. We live in a time of…

The Gift of the Cacti TWO DECADES AGO, car companies predicted that they’d have millions of hydrogen fuelcell cars on the road by 2020. Today, that seems impossible, given that only three models are in commercial production and the estimated number of actual hydrogen cars on the road is still in the low thousands. Blocking these cars from the fast lane is the finicky synthetic membrane found in the most common type of fuel cell. It has to be kept at just the right humidity to allow protons to pass through as electrons are channeled in another direction, producing electricity inside the cell. Car companies thus pack bulky humidifiers inside their hydrogen vehicles, adding weight and sucking up power. A team of Australian and Korean scientists is taking a page…

In 1993, during the Bosnian war, the American journalist David Rieff went to Belgrade to interview a leading Serbian politician. “As I was leaving his office,” Rieff writes in his new book, In Praise of Forgetting, “one of his young aides pressed a folded bit of paper into my hand. It turned out to be blank except for a date: 1453—the year Orthodox Constantinople fell to the Muslim Ottomans.” The religious and ethnic war of the 20th-century Balkans, the note implied, was rooted in injuries dating back centuries. This anecdote gets straight to the moral quandary at the heart of Rieff ’s earnest and searching book: Is collective memory always a good thing, or does a harmonious future depend on moving beyond old grievances? The question is provocative, since it…

5 WAYS TO COMPARE PROGRAMS 11 LEADING SCHOOLS MASTER'S DEGREE: PROGRAM DIRECTORY "Understanding the connections is critical," says Carmen Iezzi Mezzera, executive director of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). "As global problems become more apparent, so does the need for people to understand them and to see the connections." Master's degree programs in international affairs prepare students for careers that demand not only expertise, but also flexibility, the ability to understand diverse perspectives, and the ability to perceive the links among different issues. In addition to having proficiency in areas such as economics, statistics, or languages, international affairs graduates are equipped to analyze a problem, write and speak effectively among groups from diverse cultures, and identify crucial connections. Photo - NYU School of Professional Studies, MS…

"The nature of international affairs training is changing," says Joel Hellman, dean of Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). He notes that students experience growing pressure to combine their interest in international affairs with more specialized training, while professionals in different specialties can increasingly benefit from training in international affairs. Hellman believes that interdisciplinary academic approaches can help address some of the most pressing global challenges. "The world of public policy has trouble dealing with the crises in front of it," he says. "For many of the problems we're confronting globally, we really don't have answers. We need stronger, deeper analysis." Hellman sees a role for SFS in helping to prevent crises by diving further into theory and research with an understanding of practice. "Our location in Washington,…

New York is the quintessential global city, and The New School has a quintessentially New York culture, distinguished by thinking that is creative, critical, engaged, and iconoclastic. The New School offers a distinctive mix of schools and programs, including a renowned graduate school for social research, Parsons School of Design, the School of Media Studies, and more. The Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA) is part of The New School's Milano School for International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. In its two-year MA and MS in International Affairs programs, students engage in critical thinking and address global problems using innovative tools such as geographic information systems, transmedia research and advocacy, and participatory design and assessment. GPIA also provides students with access to a wide range of New…

Iran’s Lake Urmia once boasted flocks of flamingos and swarms of tourists eager to swim in salty waters that covered an area more than twice the size of Luxembourg. Today, it more closely resembles a desert, littered with rusted cruise ships and beached docks (right). According to a 2014 report by an international consortium of scientists, Urmia has shrunk by a staggering 88 percent since the 1970s. Droughts are partly to blame, but the primary culprits are dams and irrigation projects that divert the lake’s water sources. President Hassan Rouhani’s government pledged $5 billion for conservation efforts in 2014, but Iranian photographer Solmaz Daryani, whose family lives near Urmia, worries that may be too little, too late. Her photography of the desiccated landscape aims “to investigate the impact on [people]…

WHERE TO ABSORB CULTURE In 2006, the government converted a former hospital into the elegant MUSEUM OF NATIONAL IDENTITY, which boasts a permanent installation on Honduran history and revolving exhibits of Honduran artists. I recently saw some of painter Francisco Pinto Rodezno’s canvasses on display here. +504 2238-7412 WHEN TEGUCIGALPA GETS a global media mention, it’s more likely for people fleeing the Honduran capital than reasons tourists should visit. In late March, more than 100 residents abandoned the city’s El Hoyo neighborhood after a gang threatened to kill them. It was a credible warning. According to police, there were 867 killings in Tegucigalpa last year, yielding one of the world’s highest urban homicide rates. To escape violence and economic hardship— 63 percent of Hondurans live in poverty— thousands of people…

When exploring prospective programs, Mezzera says it's important to consider the following: 1. ACADEMIC STRUCTURE. Is the curriculum flexible or structured? Check out a school's language, quantitative, and other course requirements, as well as the strict prerequisites for admission. Some schools emphasize individual initiative and outside-the-box thinking. 2. ADMISSION QUALIFICATIONS. Find out a school's range of expectations in terms of applicants' GPAs and test scores. If you don't have all the prerequisite courses and skills, what would you need to do to catch up? 3. COMMUNITY AND LOCATION. Would you like to study in the United States, Europe, Asia, or elsewhere? How much do you care about spending time in an international affairs hub such as New York or Washington? Visiting a school in person can give you a feel…

Central European University (CEU) in Budapest offers graduate-level English-language curricula in the social sciences, humanities, law, management, and public policy. Founded in 1991 by George Soros, chairman of the Open Society Foundations, it draws students from more than 100 countries, many of whom are especially interested in emerging democracies worldwide. The School of Public Policy (SPP) at CEU addresses global challenges through multidisciplinary study of public policy, innovative teaching and research, and meaningful engagement with policy practice. It is a global institution committed to creating a community of "purpose beyond power." "What is especially wonderful is the diversity of the student body," says Julia Buxton, acting dean. The students in SPP's three master's degree programs and PhD public policy track come from six continents and more than 60 countries. Economic…

lohns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies offers students a multidisciplinary education, emphasizing international economics, international relations, regional studies, and languages. "Our customizable degree programs are rooted in international economics and provide the flexibility to tailor coursework to focus on the issues that matter most to students," says Vali Nasr, the school's dean. Established in Washington, D.C., in 1943, the school today has a global reach that includes locations in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China, as well as strategic partnerships with leading academic institutions around the world. The school's campus in Washington, D.C., provides an exciting backdrop for the study of international relations as important global issues are debated and resolved. SAIS Europe is based in Bologna, Italy, and has used its strategic position in the heart of Europe…

"STUDENTS LEARN TO APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT PEOPLE THINK IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND IN DIFFERENT CULTURAL CONTEXTS. GLOBAL LEADERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THESE DIFFERENCES." -Adil Najam, dean, Fredericks. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University Small classes, inspiring faculty, and generous financial aid are key features of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University (BU). "The Pardee School is an exceptional place for strong college graduates from a variety of backgrounds to follow their passions in cultivating a multidisciplinary career path in international affairs," says Dean Adil Najam. Najam believes that careers in global policy will increasingly require broad and combined competencies. Students at the Pardee School benefit from a wide range of course options and program choices. In addition to its flagship MA in International…