By Adam DuBard The 2016 presidential election was a shocking upset by all accounts. Apart from a few outliers, most media pundits and political experts predicted a Hillary Clinton win. Only two significant polls predicted a Donald Trump victory, and Nate Silver, the vaunted pollster guru, gave Trump a 28.6 percent chance at victory. Clinton’s... Continue Reading →
Foreign Policy and Voting: Do Presidential Candidates Waltz Before Blind SAISers?
By Zach Wheeler In 1989, John H. Aldrich of Duke University outlined three conditions which must be present to enable an American to weigh considerations of foreign policy while voting: voters must possess a fundamental attitude toward foreign affairs, voters must have an ability to analyze issues in foreign affairs, and candidates must present voters... Continue Reading →
The Election Will Be Televised: Presidential debates in the digital age
By Qianrong Ding With the only two scheduled debates between sitting President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden already behind us, election day is fast approaching. The SAIS student body keeps a close eye on the 2020 election, so it comes as no surprise that so many reportedly watched the presidential debates. According to... Continue Reading →
Election Security: How to make sure your vote counts
By Richard Pedersen Since evidence of Russian intervention in the 2016 election first came to light, election security experts and local officials have repeatedly raised the alarm regarding the vulnerability of the American electoral system. Public statements from such experts have primarily focused on threats of foreign interference. However, in recent weeks President Trump’s claims... Continue Reading →
The Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Explained
By Adam DuBard In the early morning of September 27, 2020, Azerbaijanian military forces launched a surprise attack into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Although tensions flared in July, the suddenness and intensity of this war have taken many around the world by surprise. In less than a month of... Continue Reading →
SAIS Pandemic Finances – The Odd School Out
By Richard Pedersen SAIS Pandemic Finances - The Odd School Out Over the coming year, SAIS students will navigate a graduate experience largely devoid of student interaction, deprived of necessary academic facilities, and disrupted by online learning difficulties, all at a higher tuition price. SAIS faculty, staff, and administrators are not much better off, facing... Continue Reading →
Struggling to Thrive: SAIS International Students in the COVID-19 Era
By Qianrong Ding After a month of distance learning in this new semester, people seem to have been used to the particular circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic– and they may start enjoying the benefits it brings. But problems are not solved yet. With so much uncertainty, international students - a significant component of the SAIS... Continue Reading →
In the face of grand historical narratives: Documenting my grandmother’s past 祛蔽和重构:我的外婆小传
By Lui Zhuoran 刘卓然 In the 1980s, the literary trend of “individual historical narration” was born in Mainland China. At that time, enlightenment ideals were introduced once again into China; the state had no longer controlled private life as strictly as before, and restrictions on thoughts and speech were gradually relaxed, causing various ideological cultures... Continue Reading →
The Return of Street Vendors: Wuhan’s Post-Pandemic Revival 地摊的回归:一座城市疫情后的重生
By Wei Baipei 魏百佩 NANJING, China — The year 2020 introduced the city of Wuhan to the world in the most tragic way. The COVID-19 epicenter was placed on strict lockdown from the end of January to mid-March. As fears of contracting the deadly virus spread from door to door, stay-at-home restrictions silenced the once-buzzing... Continue Reading →
A Snapshot of the SAIS Virtual Student Experience
Zachary Wheeler “I am writing to inform you that we have changed our earlier position and have reluctantly decided to conduct all SAIS-DC classes and activities in virtual and online formats for the Fall 2020 semester,” wrote SAIS Dean Eliot A. Cohen on July 17th. That night, I imagined the coming semester filled with technological... Continue Reading →