Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA)

Compass

A journal about global cultures and developments published by the Institute of Current World Affairs.

Could emigres drive Africa’s economic future?

Joel Millman

Brain drain is siphoning tens of thousands of professionals a year but some have become the continent’s leading investors.

Two poems

Susan Brind Morrow

"February Sail" and "[Dozens of snails]"

Ethiopia’s Omo Valley

Douglas Lyon

Looking back at visiting the Surma people for a television shoot

Fellows

The latest dispatches from the institute’s fellows writing about Taiwan, Brazil and the Norwegian Arctic. Sign up for emails to follow their research.

Out of the darkness

Brett Simpson

The sun returns to northern Norway.

Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil

On belonging

Rowland Robinson

Reflections on a nomadic fellowship

Norway

The Arctic circus

Brett Simpson

At a major gathering of leaders in Reykjavik, America was noticeably absent.

Advancing understanding of global cultures and affairs

The Institute of Current World Affairs has sent outstanding young professionals abroad to acquire deep knowledge of international societies for 100 years. Many become leading experts on global cultures and affairs.

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ICWA@100

As the institute marks its centenary, we’re looking back at the writing and lives of our fellows over the past 100 years.

Updates & Events

We need your help to support our fellows

I can’t tell you how important the experience of the fellowship was for me. Those years I spent from 1971 to 1975 really shaped my ideas about health and healing in the natural world.

DR. ANDREW WEIL, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE ANDREW WEIL CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (ICWA FELLOW IN THE AMERICAS AND AFRICA, 1971-1975)

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Home

Who your daddy isn’t

Compass

Could emigres drive Africa’s economic future?

Two poems

Ethiopia’s Omo Valley

Fellows

Out of the darkness

On belonging

The Arctic circus

Advancing understanding of global cultures and affairs

ICWA@100

Visiting Mahatma Gandhi in colonial India

Out of Ethiopia

The Students of Prague

Updates & Events

Apply for a nuclear disarmament education fellowship

ICWA awards new 2026-2028 fellowships

ICWA celebrates 100 years at its centenary dinner

Alumni

Could emigres drive Africa’s economic future?

Journal for the Anthropology of North America: Amelia Frank-Vitale on immigration court watching

House Foreign Affairs Committee: Andrew Tabler testifies to Rep. Pramila Jayapal at Syria hearing

The Dial: Eve Fairbanks on South Africa’s police state

We need your help to support our fellows