BY NATE HAKEN It was a rough year for the United States in 2017. It was the country’s worst year for hurricanes – Irma, Harvey, and Maria caused hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of damage in the Gulf Coast. It was the worst year for wildfires – over a million acres burned in California […]
Tag Archives: United States
A Nation Divided Against Itself: Internal Divisions Fuel U.S. Worsening
- 23 April 2018
BY J.J. MESSNER AND CHARLES FIERTZ More than any previous year, the 2018 Fragile States Index (FSI) has demonstrated that rich and developed countries can be just as prone as any other to the effects of fragility and instability – and the United States is certainly no exception. A combination of political and social turmoil, […]
Cracks in the Foundation: United States and United Kingdom
- 14 May 2017
BY NATE HAKEN Society is more resilient to shocks when social, economic, political and security pressures are manageable. However, an improving economy does not guarantee social and political cohesion. The United States is a case in point. In 2016, unemployment (at 4.9%) was at a 9-year low; GDP per capita (at US$57,500) was at an […]
Looking Beneath the Total Score: United States
- 17 June 2015
BY NATE HAKEN As the United States heads into a heated political campaign season, candidates are beginning to frame their take on the social, economic, and political track the country is on and what they would do to calibrate those trajectories. Certainly, to listen to pundits you might suppose that the U.S. is either going […]
“The Eyes of the World Are Watching.” They Sure Are, Governor.
- 20 August 2014
BY J.J. MESSNER It is easy to view the unfolding events in Ferguson, Missouri as an inherently domestic issue. Much of the domestic analysis so far has characterized this violence as reminiscent of decades past – or lands far away. In the words of Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, “The eyes of the world are […]
U.S. Strategies on Iran Nuclear Development
- 09 April 2013
BY KENNAN HEDRICK As pressure from Israel builds and international sanctions against Iran continually weaken the Iranian economy, President Obama has repeatedly asserted his policy to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and his willingness to use force if necessary. In light of this policy, what is the best strategy to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, and how […]