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Judgment at Tokyo book cover
News December 13, 2023
SPIA Political Scientist Delivers Detailed Account of Nuremberg’s Asian Counterpart
A SPIA political scientist’s sprawling, detailed history of the Nuremberg trials’ lesser-known Asian counterpart has earned glowing reviews and a spot on numerous year-end best-of lists.Gary J. Bass’s “Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia” (Alfred A. Knopf) was named one of the 10 best books of the year by The Washington Post, one of the 12 essential nonfiction books of the year by The New Yorker, a best book of the year by The Economist, and one of the 100 notable books of the year by The New York Times, among other accolades.In “Judgment at Tokyo,” Bass, the William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace…
Robertson Hall
News December 12, 2023
A Shift in Perception after SCOTUS’ ‘Dobbs’ Decision
Adults in the United States were more likely to perceive that people in America favored legal access to abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade than before it, according to new research from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. The finding appeared in “Effects of a US Supreme Court ruling to restrict abortion rights,” published recently in Nature Human Behaviour.While evidence did not show that the ruling influenced personal attitudes about the legality or morality of abortion, the shift in perceived norms has the potential to cause behavioral change, the Princeton researchers said. “There is a wealth…
Brontë Forsgren MPA ’24
News December 11, 2023
In the U.S. and Beyond, SPIA Students Travel the Globe for Internship Experience
When students from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs take what they have learned inside the classroom to the outside world, the knowledge becomes proof of concept. This year, nearly 70 SPIA students completed external internships — with federal, local, and state agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector entities in a variety of fields — to further their understanding of public and domestic policy and international relations.Below, SPIA students share some of their favorite internship moments from 2023. Sara Clark MPA …
Credit: Shutterstock / Oil and Gas Photographer
News December 07, 2023
ESOC Conference Examines Causes and Effects of 1973-74 Oil Embargo
Thirty policy experts and scholars from the United States, Western Europe, and the Middle East met at the SPIA in D.C. space in early November for a conference on the 50th anniversary of OPEC’s 1973-74 oil embargo. The two-day gathering, presented by SPIA’s Empirical Studies of Conflict project, featured discussions and debates about the causes of the crisis, its consequences, and its enduring relevance to international politics and economics.The conference began with an exploration of the history of the crisis and the structural forces that provided Arab oil producers with an opportunity to “weaponize” petroleum exports for political purposes…
Sandra Day O'Connor
News December 06, 2023
SPIA Reacts: Sandra Day O’Connor and Her Supreme Court Legacy
On December 1, Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, died. Members of the Princeton SPIA community offered their analysis of O’Connor’s legacy, her decision to vacate her seat when she did, and her barrier-breaking nomination.“It is hard to overstate what her arrival on the Supreme Court meant for the rule of law in this country. It wasn’t just how pivotally important she was as a symbol of women’s equality. It was her skill in championing traditional rule-of-law values like adherence to precedent while quietly bringing about a revolution — an end to 191 years of American constitutional law written only by…
Peter Henderson
News December 01, 2023
AI and Law Expert to Join SPIA from Stanford in January
Peter Henderson, a Stanford University-based researcher whose combined expertise in law and machine learning is helping federal agencies deploy responsible, equitable and efficient artificial intelligence algorithms to best serve their constituents, will join the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy in January as an assistant professor.Henderson will have joint appointments with Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and the Department of Computer Science and be based at Sherrerd Hall, alongside CITP core associated faculty members Aleksandra Korolova, Jonathan Mayer, Prateek Mittal and Arvind Narayanan, CITP…
Flag for COP28 climate change conference
News December 01, 2023
SPIA Leads Princeton Delegation to U.N. Climate Change Conference
Nearly a dozen faculty, students, and staff from the School of Public and International Affairs are serving as delegates to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which began this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Known officially as the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the meeting is the world’s primary multilateral decision-making forum on climate change, with almost every country in the world participating. The 28th annual such meeting, COP28 runs through December 12.The 11 SPIA representatives are joining six others from the University to comprise the Princeton delegation. They…
group of students
News November 28, 2023
SPIA Students Take High-Level Meetings at the United Nations
Students in Amal Mudallali’s “Multilateralism and Foreign Policy: Case Study of Outer Space Policy” course visited the United Nations earlier this month for a series of meetings with high-level U.N. officials, including the president of the General Assembly. UNGA President Dennis Francis, Trinidad and Tobago’s ambassador to the U.N., briefed the students on his agenda for the 78th General Assembly session and noted that the organization would be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which he called “the Magna Carta of human rights.”“Hate speech must stop,” Francis told the students. “Violation of human rights…
Constructive Campus Conversation event poster
News November 20, 2023
Princeton, Columbia Policy School Deans to Discuss ‘Constructive Campus Conversations’ in Pair of Talks
Following up on their widely cited New York Times commentary “The Discourse Is Toxic. Universities Can Help.,” the respective deans of Princeton University’s and Columbia University’s policy schools will meet for a pair of conversations on the topic at the end of this month. The first event will be held at Princeton, and the second at Columbia.The Princeton talk, “The Current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Constructive Campus Conversations,” is scheduled for Tuesday, November 28, at 12:30 p.m. in Robertson Hall’s Arthur Lewis Auditorium. Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber will moderate.Only Princeton University I.D. holders will be permitted in…
group of people
News November 17, 2023
Despite Progress, Researchers Find More Potential Discrimination in Facebook Ads
In 2019, following several lawsuits, Facebook no longer allowed employers to target specific ages, genders, or zip codes when advertising for open positions. The move was part of a series of actions the platform has taken in recent years to reduce discrimination in advertising that appears there. Despite the changes, new research from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs has found a new source of potential discrimination in employment advertising on Facebook. Aleksandra Korolova, an assistant professor of computer science and public affairs, and Varun Nagaraj Rao, a graduate student in the Department of Computer Science, examined a…
three missile rockets
News November 14, 2023
SPIA Science and Global Security Program Reveals Devastation Linked to U.S. Policy on Nuclear Missiles in Silos in Mid-West
With the threat of nuclear war at a level not seen since the Cold War, researchers from the Science and Global Security(SGS) program at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs have estimated there would be 300 million casualties across North America if the United States’ nuclear silos were ever attacked.The findings come after a two-year examination and are presented in a multimedia package, “The Missiles on our Land,” which features state-of-the-art computer simulations, a podcast series, a documentary film, photography, and articles in Scientific American.“We’re looking at the human and environmental risks with U.S. nuclear weapon…
Eric Lepowsky has combined expertise in robotics and nuclear arms control to create a robotic system that strategically does not record sensitive information, making it more likely that skeptical state actors would participate in an inspections process. Photo by Michael Franken.
News November 02, 2023
SGS Ph.D. Student Exploring Robotics as a Noninvasive Arms-Control Measure
In the high-stakes world of nuclear arms control, a Princeton doctoral student is exploring how robots can make nuclear inspections more accurate and more acceptable to host nations that may be wary of invasive conventional methods.Eric Lepowsky, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, applies concepts from robotics to nuclear safeguards to develop novel inspection and verification techniques.His latest research has led to a robot that can perform inspections without saving sensitive information, making inspections less invasive.“In a real-life scenario, the host nation likely won't want a human…
Fusion Voting event poster
News November 02, 2023
Strange Bedfellows: SPIA in NJ Event to Explore Ways to Revive Faith in New Jersey’s Democratic Institutions
Experts from across the political spectrum will convene at Princeton University on November 15 to discuss restoring New Jersey voters’ faith in their democratic institutions.“Fusion Voting: Restoring Real Choice at the Ballot” will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hobart Betts Auditorium. The event is being hosted by the School of Public and International Affairs’ SPIA in New Jersey Initiative, with the Bridging Divides Initiative as a co-sponsor. Pre-registration is encouraged.Studies show most Garden State voters do not believe that their government is rising to the serious challenges of today, that elected officials represent their interests or are…
Mickey Edwards
News November 01, 2023
Book Prize Named in Honor of SPIA Visiting Professor
After 16 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district, Mickey Edwards entered academia. He has spent more than 20 years teaching and writing, and has published four books about democracy and government. This second career has earned him a book prize that bears his name. The Rodel Institute created the Edwards Book Award to recognize literature that makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding and practice of democracy in American politics.The Rodel Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps America’s leaders reach their full potential as public servants, deepen their…
Filiz Garip
News November 01, 2023
Garip to Receive A.SK Bright Mind Award
Filiz Garip, a professor of sociology and public affairs, will receive the A.SK Bright Mind Award on November 14 in Berlin, Germany. The award, presented by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, honors research on public policy with a focus on economic and governmental reforms and is endowed with a 20,000 Euro prize.Garip studies migration and the mechanisms that enable or constrain mobility and lead to greater or lesser degrees of social and economic inequality. Her 2016 book On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-US Migration was published by Princeton University Press.“This award is as much a responsibility as it is a recognition,” Garip said. …