Netanyahu’s Coalition Games
Foreign Affairs – Former Fellow Neri Zilber has written a new article on the recent upheaval in Israeli politics, when Labor party chairman Isaac Herzog entered into talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about joining the current government only to have the deal fall apart. According to Zilber, “Herzog has become a laughingstock, both within his
In the Know – The Bonjour Effect
The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed, the latest book on French language and culture from past ICWA Fellows Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau received a glowing review in The New York Times Book Review this week. Molly Young writes that The Bonjour Effect, the latest of Barlow and Nadeau’s several books on France
What Can a National Park Do?
“Mexico has many good laws.” Professor Martín Soto leans back from behind a clump of papers on his desk and sighs. “It’s the enforcement that lacks.” I’m sitting in Martin’s office on the second story of the Marine Science and Limnology Institute in Mazatlán, Mexico. The building hangs on the edge of a cliff above
Update from Puerto Chiapas
We just crossed the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec: the southernmost gulf in Pacific Mexico, where winds funnel out of the Caribbean, howling down across land to gobble up sailboats in the Pacific with 20-30′ waves. We grabbed our weather window and raced Prism on a double overnight to Puerto Chiapas. A great adventure and test
Israel’s Secret Weapon Against Terror
The Daily Beast – In his latest article, past ICWA Fellow Neri Zilber examines an important and often overlooked factor that is contributing to the decline in violence in the West Bank, the work of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces. The PASF cooperates with the Israel Defense Forces to contain Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been and continues to
The Bonjour Effect
The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed is the latest book on French language and culture from past ICWA Fellows Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau. The Bonjour Effect explores and examines the art of French conversation and explains the way that the French talk about themselves, the world, and everything in between.
Update from Zihuatanejo
We are about to depart from Zihuatanejo. We have spent the past two days exploring and reprovisioning here. The town is unlike any we have seen yet, it somehow has the humm of a busy city and the quaintness and relaxed vibe of a coastal town. The bay itself is beautiful; steep, jungle-clad hills (mostly
In Turbulent Times, One Source Keeps Brazil Laughing
Forbes – Past ICWA Fellow Shannon Sims reports on Sensacionalista, a Brazilian satirical paper that could be compared to The Onion. According to Sims, the political and economic situation in Brazil is tough and “as the political scandals multiply and surpass anything seen in a House of Cards script, Brazilians are sharing Sensacionalista’s fake news with gusto, as
The Mysterious Case Of The Shrinking Brazilian Easter Egg
Forbes – In her latest article, past Fellow Shannon Sims examines Brazil’s incredibly popular chocolate Easter eggs in a new context; economics. A recent economic crash has caused the value of one Brazilian real to shrink from 50 U.S. cents to 25 cents and in conjunction the average size of a Brazilian chocolate Easter egg has shrunk as well. To
Finding Altata: the Slow Change for the Fishers
“Whatever you do, don’t go to Altata.” These were the last words we heard as we cast off our dock lines in Guaymas. We were about to sail 300 miles with limited charts but plentiful warnings—with the goal of getting to this near-mythical town protected by a bar that might as well have been filled