American University School of International Service
American University’s School of International Service (SIS) is a top-10 school of international affairs located in Washington, D.C. Since our founding in 1957, we have answered President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s call to prepare students of international affairs to “wage peace.” We do so because we believe the world needs leaders ready to serve.
SIS produces transformational research and prepares more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students for global service in government, nonprofits, and business. Our students learn from more than 120 full-time faculty – leading political scientists, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, demographers, geographers, historians, and experts in international development, global health, communications, energy, and the environment – and benefit from an active international network of more than 20,000 alumni. They graduate prepared to combine knowledge and practice and to serve the global community as emerging leaders.
Hundreds of Afghan citizens, fleeing their home country, await takeoff after packing inside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Capt. Chris Herbert/U.S. Air Force
Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US Afghanistan pullout is not a repeat of failures in other recent wars. “This is not Saigon,” he said. A seasoned foreign policy expert disagrees.
A COVID-19 field hospital in Santo Andre, Brazil. The pandemic has killed over 503,000 people in Brazil; just 11% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Maria De Jesus, American University School of International Service
The high costs of the world’s colossally unequal COVID-19 immunization rates.
On the left, fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli warplanes target the Palestinian enclave on May 17, 2021; on the right, rockets launched from Gaza flying toward Israel on May 10, 2021.
Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images and Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.
Boaz Atzili, American University School of International Service
In most wars, each side’s aggression is meant to get the other side to back down. But that’s not the case with how Israeli and Palestinian leaders have conducted their long-running war.
Bangladeshi children at the Independence Day celebrations in Dhaka in 2012.
AP Photo/Pavel Rahman
Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service
Pakistan, created during the 1947 partition, comprised two geographical areas, separated by over a thousand miles. The fault lines between the two regions resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.
Supporters wave national and military flags in Yangon, Myanmar after the military staged a coup.
AP Photo/Thein Zaw
Anders C. Hardig, American University School of International Service and Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service
The roots of Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar go back to colonial days. Those behind the military coup are seeking to harness it to legitimize the seizure of power.
Can Joe Biden restore U.S. world leadership?
Agela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Biden wants to restore US global leadership after four years of Trump’s isolationism and antagonism. These are some of the challenges and opportunities he’ll face, from China to Latin America.
As vice president, Joe Biden – seen here on left, in 2016 – had a working relationship with the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Is that possible now?
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
A survey of 800 foreign policy experts identified four international issues where Republicans and Democrats may actually cooperate to get something done – and one area of severe disagreement.
Viktor Orbán speaking at a summit on Poland on Sept. 11.
Omar Marques/Getty Images
Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service
A scholar who spent time in refugee camps argues that Bangladesh’s culture as well as a painful history of a war in which 10 million sought refuge played a role in the country’s opening up of its borders.
On May 27, 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Italian President Vittorio Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and American President Woodrow Wilson met May 27, 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference.
Lee Jackson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Suffering a pandemic and the aftermath of a war that killed 50 million, the world in 1920 faced a turning point as it negotiated a new political order. As today, the key issue was racial inequality.
Real-time cyberattacks on a display at the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group of the Maryland Air National Guard.
U.S. Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.
Benjamin Jensen, American University School of International Service and Chris Inglis, United States Naval Academy
In the murky world of cyber espionage and cyber warfare, effective deterrence has long been considered out of reach. A government report argues it’s time to change that.
Ireland’s health minister, center, models social distancing at his nightly coronavirus press briefing March 27, 2020.
Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie/PA Images via Getty Images
When a government’s health messaging during a crisis is inconsistent or unrealistic, it engenders the kind of confusion, misinformation and non-cooperation seen in the US and UK.
Brazil and other developing countries are being hit hard by the pandemic.
AP Photo/Andre Penner
Rick Rowden, American University School of International Service
While countries like the US and Italy have been among the hardest hit, the pandemic is severely straining the health systems and economies of countries across the world.
In this 2013 photo, Bangladeshi mourners carry the coffin containing the body of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider for funeral.
AP Photo/Pavel Rahman, File
Anders C. Hardig, American University School of International Service
In recent years Bangladesh has seen an increase in attacks on religious minorities. A scholar explains how certain extreme views on how Islam is to be followed are taking center stage in the country.
The main immediate impact of Brexit is that UK lawmakers will have to vacate the EU Parliament.
AP Photo/Francisco Seco
Garret Martin, American University School of International Service
Even though the UK is officially out of the EU on Jan. 31, it’ll take at least another 11 months of negotiations before its departure is complete.
A memorial procession for Sgt. James Johnston, who was killed in Afghanistan in June, passes through Trumansburg, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.
AP/David Goldman
Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
US officials have consistently lied over decades about progress in the Afghanistan war. The lies are no surprise, writes a foreign affairs scholar – but they have profound consequences.
President Donald Trump has rapidly, and without warning to allies or even his own officials, shifted U.S. foreign policy in Syria.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
David Banks, American University School of International Service
In northern Syria, Trump has caused U.S. allies and rivals to view American commitments in a new, uncertain light. Other countries may now shift to depend less on the U.S., weakening national power.
The parents of Harry Dunn spoke at a press conference in New York on October 14.
AP Photo/Craig Ruttle