By Zhang Miao NANJING, China — As of February 20, I had not left my home for the better part of a month. As I reflect on that period, I think about panic, city shutdowns and new rules restricting even local travel. Residents were forced to stay home and often turned to social media to…
Continue reading ➞ Chinese social media in the age of COVID-19
By Joshua Cartwright NANJING, China — At its annual meeting, China’s parliament will consider something it had promised it would not: legalizing same-sex marriage. The initial refusal came just months after Taiwan, in 2019, became the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage. But after a public comment period in Mainland China delivered over…
Continue reading ➞ Mixed signals and pessimism: The outlook for China’s LGBTQ community
By Hsing-yu Jessica Fang March 11, 2020 On January 11, 2020, hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered at the Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei to celebrate the reelection of President Tsai Ying-wen. Tsai prevailed with an historical 8.17 million votes. In a system that does not allow absentee voting, the turnout was nearly 75% - a…
By Taylor Loeb March 15, 2020 Last month, I was in Taiwan, watching the presidential election and its democracy, in action. I sat around table-mounted microphones, drinking black coffee, listening to experts meditate on election results, observing Taiwanese society, and, as experts do, analyzing what it all means. I went to raucous political rallies with hundreds…
Continue reading ➞ Conceiving a country: A rapid-fire initiation to Taiwan
By Yilin Wang March 2, 2020 WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the economy has stagnated amidst the coronavirus epidemic, the Chinese government has stepped up its economic stimulus efforts in an attempt to prevent further downturn. Following its initial economic stimulus package announced on January 1 that promised a $174 billion liquidity injection into the market,…
Continue reading ➞ China pumps cash into economy, second time in 2020
By Leif Olson March 5, 2020 WASHINGTON, DC - In 2016, Stephanie Kelton, an economist at Stony Brook University, joined the Bernie Sanders campaign. With Kelton came a new economic idea: Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). MMTers claim that governments need not worry about deficit spending or debt, a belief that spawned policies like the Green…
Continue reading ➞ Modern Monetary Theory – What do SAIS faculty make of it?
By Dennis Murphy February 11, 2020 With over 24,500 confirmed global cases of Coronavirus, governments around the world have initiated quarantine protocols. The worst of the outbreak, however, has remained localized in its nation of origin: China. The virus has made life difficult for Chinese SAISers. One Chinese student found herself unable to return to…
By Michael Hall February 6, 2020 BOLOGNA, Italy — Walking towards the sliding door on the way to the water fountain, Giulio’s bar is a collection of aggressively-lit roadside furniture. While one hand digs in a pocket for a plastic card with peeling filament, the other puts forth a bottle; sea-foam green, translucent razzmatazz, a…
Continue reading ➞ Verified results in water fountain socializing
By Adam DuBard BOLOGNA, Italy - On January 3rd, the world awoke to the news that the United States had assassinated the head of Iran’s infamous Revolutionary Guard, Qasem Soleimani, in a drone strike at Baghdad Airport. The killing of Soleimani, itself a dramatic escalation between Iran and the United States, sparked an immediate…
By: Laura Rong February 5th, 2020 BOLOGNA, Italy - Home to the SAIS Europe, Bologna has welcomed students from different parts of the world since the 1960s. Although the local cafeteria on campus, Giulios, offers delicious Italian breakfast and pasta everyday, sometimes one just wants to feel closer to home by going to a restaurant…
Continue reading ➞ Feeling Homesick? Check out these restaurants!