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Updates from the Strauss Center and our affiliated distinguished scholars and fellows

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Development Data Challenge

August 29, 2012 |

Last week’s Development Data Challenge, hosted by the Guardian, examined if and how aid datasets can be used to learn more about international development. The CCAPS program’s geo-coded dataset of aid activities in Malawi, developed in partnership with AidData and the Ministry of Finance of Malawi, was included in the Development Data Challenge and coded…

Strauss Scholar Eugene Gholz Receives Exceptional Public Service Medal

August 28, 2012 |

In a ceremony that took place this summer, Strauss Distinguished Scholar Eugene Gholz received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Medal, one of the highest awards the Secretary of Defense can bestow on a private citizen. The award was presented for the work that Gholz had contributed as a senior advisor…

Predicting How Climate and Politics Affect Stability in Africa

International Science Grid This Week (iSGTW) explores the CCAPS mapping tool that integrates data on conflict, climate vulnerability, and adaptation aid. In his piece “Predicting How Climate and Politics Affect Stability in Africa: Data Mapping the Future of a Continent,” Diego Joaquin Cruz Ramirez provides background on the CCAPS program and explains why the mapping…

Strauss Center Releases New Data on Climate Aid in Africa

August 9, 2012 |

The Strauss Center’s Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program today released the first-ever dataset tracking all climate aid activities in a single country. In the pilot study, CCAPS researchers applied their new “climate coding” methodology to all official development aid projects in Malawi’s Aid Management Platform, assessing each project activity for its relevance…

Strauss Center Director Francis J. Gavin on Hiroshima

August 8, 2012 |

Strauss Center Director Francis J. Gavin wrote an essay for the Federation of American Scientists for the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  The collection of essays marking this anniversary reflect on the wisdom of nuclear energy and share the authors’ perspectives on nuclear weapons.

Mapping the Future of Climate Change in Africa

In his article Mapping the Future of Climate Change in Africa, Diego Cruz of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) discusses the tools developed by the CCAPS program to help vulnerable populations adapt to climate change and political instability. CCAPS researchers use the high-performance computing resources at TACC to run regional climate model simulations. The…

CCAPS Program Featured on UT Homepage

July 26, 2012 |

The University of Texas at Austin’s homepage featured an article on the Strauss Center’s Climate Change and African Stability Program (CCAPS) this week.  The article highlights the program’s work in Malawi where students were given the opportunity to assist with collecting data from the nations Ministry of Finance on foregin aid.  The students were able…

Diversity Under Freedom: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Transatlantic Community

July 25, 2012 |

In this Foreign Policy Paper for the German Marshall Fund, Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar William Inboden looks back at the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, a prominent U.S. public intellectual in the mid-century. Niebuhr’s philosophies on transatlantic relations are, according to Inboden, just as relevant today as they were when he first wrote them.

Assessing State Fragility from a Human Security Perspective

The Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Strategic Multi-Layer Assessment (SMA) division recently released a white volume on National Security Challenges: Insights from Social, Neurobiological, and Complexity Sciences. The volume includes a chapter by CCAPS researcher Cullen Hendrix on the use of a human security perspective to measure state fragility. Dr. Hendrix, assistant professor at…

Strauss Scholar Michael Webber in the New York Times

July 24, 2012 |

The New York Times featured an opinion piece by Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar Michael Webber.  In this article, Webber discusses the link between water and energy and how the current drought is affecting our energy systems.  He asserts that future water vulnerability, fed by a growing population, will negatively affect energy production.  He proposes several solutions…

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