From the Washington Examiner:
What Would Really Happen If D.C. Legalized Prostitution
As professors of public policy and law and longtime students of the problem of human trafficking, organized crime, and the sale of sexual services, our research suggests that passage of this law threatens our community. Organized crime will rise, the exploitation of the most vulnerable in our community will grow, and the health and well-being of residents will be undermined.
—Louise Shelley and Mary G. Leary
From Medium:
In my academic career, I tend to think of members of Congress like lab mice: subjects to be observed and studied. But at the hearing, I was their subject to be questioned. And boy, did they have questions — namely, how did Congress become so polarized? And how could it ever hope to reverse course?
—Jennifer Victor
From The American Interest:
America and Azerbaijan: Five Reflections on the Contract of the Century
Twenty-five years later, the agreement has guaranteed oil and gas production worth nearly $200 billion, while paving the way for the construction of multiple international oil and gas pipelines. No one present at the Gulestan Palace signing ceremony could have imagined the scope of these developments. As U.S. Ambassador in Azerbaijan from 1994 to 1997, I witnessed this event, the creation of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) in February 1995, and the intense struggles over the route for “early oil” that followed. With the benefit of over two decades of hindsight as a diplomat and intelligence analyst, I offer the following five reflections.
—Richard Kauzlarich
From The Hill:
If President Trump is making a play for public opinion, it’s not working. In the Washington Post-Schar School poll, a strong majority (62 percent) called President Trump’s request to the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens “inappropriate.” But the White House may not be making a play for public opinion. The president expects to survive by relying on his base.
—Bill Schneider
From Inside Higher Education:
Sexual Harassment in Kyrgyzstan: Should UNESCO Weigh In?
His texts solicited intimate photos, offered massages and described his various sexual fetishes. The correspondence subtly suggested that responding to his erotic fantasies would benefit a student’s grades. He explained, “I have to risk giving points for the test, etc., risking my career and job for you.”
—Ararat Osipian
From LobeLog:
Trump’s Kurdish Fumble: What’s In It for Putin?
If nothing else, Trump’s abandoning America’s Syrian Kurdish allies, as well as his erratic behavior generally, will encourage other Middle Eastern leaders to hedge against Trump treating them in a similar fashion by seeking pragmatic cooperation with Putin—something that will undoubtedly be on display during his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia in a few days, even though Riyadh is not happy about Moscow’s close ties to Tehran.In the over 35 years that I have spent writing about Moscow’s Middle East policy, I have often tried to point out how the USSR or Russia will have difficulty capitalizing on regional dislike of various U.S. policies. But on this occasion, I simply cannot do so.
—Mark N. Katz
From Medium:
Trump’s Defenses Against the Impeachment Inquiry Are Suddenly Crumbling
In addition to the still-masked federal whistleblower, these high-profile actors have defied the president and his claims on executive privilege. They have come forward at some risk to their professional careers, but so far their integrity has not been questioned, nor has the veracity of the information they have provided. Remarkably, these individuals are making a difference in the balance of power between two behemoth branches of government. Meanwhile, public opinion is rapidly changing, and that has real effects.
—Jennifer Victor
From National Review:
What Is Conservative American Nationalism?
America’s Founders also hoped, in all sincerity, that the U.S. example of popular self-government would spread overseas. But they didn’t imagine that they could accomplish that by force, simultaneously, in all directions. Nor were they averse to diplomatic alignments with non-democratic powers, if necessary, in order to promote American interests. After all, the United States might never have secured its independence without the help of France, under an absolutist monarchy at the time.
—Colin Dueck