LSE Comment

In this section you can read recent expert commentary from LSE academics on important issues around American Politics and Policy. This section also contains reviews of recent books by LSE academics and book reviews from LSE staff and alumni.

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    In killing Soleimani, Trump has chosen tactics over strategy in the Middle East 

In killing Soleimani, Trump has chosen tactics over strategy in the Middle East 

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On January 2nd 2020, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike against his convoy at Baghdad Airport. LSE US Centre Director Professor Peter Trubowitz comments that it appears that there was little or no strategy behind Trump’s decision on the attack: it has not sown political divisions in Iran, and there is little appetite in Washington DC for further escalation.
Was killing Soleimani a huge miscalculation […]

January 7th, 2020|LSE Comment, Peter Trubowitz, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
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    New Orleans’ evolving food scene is a window into the city’s post-Katrina recovery

New Orleans’ evolving food scene is a window into the city’s post-Katrina recovery

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As a place famous for its food, the revitalization of New Orleans’ restaurants has been taken as a sign of the overall recovery of the city following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina disaster. Jeanne Firth writes that despite this progress, commentary on the recent restaurant boom can obscure the unevenness of New Orleans’ recovery, with increasing disparities in access to healthy […]

December 9th, 2019|LSE Comment, Urban, rural and regional policies|0 Comments|
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    As impeachment hearings begin, Trump’s approval ratings may determine whether Republicans stay or break with the President.

As impeachment hearings begin, Trump’s approval ratings may determine whether Republicans stay or break with the President.

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Yesterday, the US House Intelligence Committee began its first public hearings into impeaching President Donald Trump, with Ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony suggesting that Trump was more involved with pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden than he had previously claimed. US Centre Director, Professor Peter Trubowitz writes that as these hearings continue, Trump’s approval ratings will be […]

November 14th, 2019|Elections and party politics across the US, LSE Comment, Peter Trubowitz|0 Comments|
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    Primary Primers: Why the Republican Party may no longer be able to count on Georgia in 2020.

Primary Primers: Why the Republican Party may no longer be able to count on Georgia in 2020.

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Many in and outside of the US consider Georgia to be a solidly conservative state, but that is increasingly no longer the case, writes Will Rooke, who profiles the Peach State’s recent political history. A combination of changing demographics, an anti-Trump suburban backlash, and a big push against Republican voter suppression, he writes, may signal Georgia’s political transition from […]

October 30th, 2019|2020 Primary Primers, Elections and party politics across the US, LSE Comment, Will Rooke|0 Comments|
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  • Two satellite maps showing a meth lab in Bakwa, Farah, Afghanistan, still functioning despite a downturn in both oman and meth prices and recent interdiction efforts
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    Long Read: The unknown unknowns of Afghanistan’s new wave of methamphetamine production

Long Read: The unknown unknowns of Afghanistan’s new wave of methamphetamine production

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Recent years have seen a massive upswing in the production of ephedra and methamphetamine from the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan. David Mansfield, the Organisation for Sustainable Development and Research and Alex Soderholm give a detailed account of how methamphetamine is produced from its precursor plant, oman, and distributed across Afghanistan and beyond into Iran and Pakistan. What we […]

September 30th, 2019|Alexander Soderholm, David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|1 Comment|
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So, who are the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates?

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Ahead of the third Democratic debate this Thursday, USAPP blog Managing Editor, Chris Gilson, profiles each of the candidates who have qualified for the debate and their chances for breaking out into the top polling tier.

 

Top Tier – polling above 20 percent
Former Vice-President Joe Biden
Who are they? If you only know one candidate in the Democratic race, it’s probably […]

September 10th, 2019|Chris Gilson, Elections and party politics across the US, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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    Oxcart rather than “Snowplow” or “Lawnmower” Parents: Our Students’ Parents are NOT the Problem

Oxcart rather than “Snowplow” or “Lawnmower” Parents: Our Students’ Parents are NOT the Problem

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In the wake of a recent poll on parental involvement with adult children’s lives, and the US College admissions scandal, Charis Thompson stands up for the majority of students’ parents who are doing their best for their children, often under difficult circumstances.

A US poll on parental involvement in adult children’s lives from earlier this year got a lot of attention. […]

September 7th, 2019|Charis Thompson, Education, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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    When it comes to harmful air pollution, denser cities aren’t greener cities. 

When it comes to harmful air pollution, denser cities aren’t greener cities. 

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Where urban planning is concerned, the conventional wisdom is that more compact cities are greener. While this may be the case for greenhouse gas emissions, new research on US cities from Sefi Roth and Felipe Carozzi find that denser cities are also more likely to have greater concentrations of harmful air pollution which can be detrimental to human health and well-being.

Air pollution is bad for us. We all […]

August 15th, 2019|Environment, Felipe Carozzi, LSE CEP, LSE Comment, Sefi Roth |3 Comments|
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    How the Panama Canal reshaped the economic geography of the United States

How the Panama Canal reshaped the economic geography of the United States

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More than a century ago, the opening of the Panama Canal revolutionized international trade by making it much quicker and easier to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But, write Stephan Maurer and Ferdinand Rauch, the canal’s opening also had a significant impact on the economic geography of the US. By examining county level data from 1900 to […]

July 22nd, 2019|Economy, Ferdinand Rauch, LSE CEP, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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    Break up big tech? Make it fairer? Sure, but let’s support our right to refuse what technology companies offer us

Break up big tech? Make it fairer? Sure, but let’s support our right to refuse what technology companies offer us

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With billions of people now members of social media networks such as Facebook and the all-pervasiveness of big tech throughout many aspects of our lives, conversations about digital citizenship have never been more important. Seeta Peña Gangadharan writes that despite efforts by the Obama administration in the late 2000s to improve digital citizenship, the US information economy has now […]

June 17th, 2019|Democracy and culture, LSE Comment, Seeta Peña Gangadharan|1 Comment|
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This work by LSE USAPP blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported.