The Conversation

Arrest of ex-president Duterte will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines – and hand initiative to rival Marcos family

Written by Lisandro Claudio, Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley

A supporter holds a portrait of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at a campaign rally in Hong Kong Southorn Stadium on March 9, 2025.Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

The ex-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, could soon become the first Asian former head of state to be tried at The Hague.

The populist politician was arrested on Mar....

US-Ukraine deal highlights Ukraine’s wealth of critical minerals, but extracting them isn’t so simple

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

A dragline excavator mines rare earth materials in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine on Feb. 25, 2025.Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

Ukraine’s mineral wealth has been a key factor in its negotiations with the U.S. as the two countries work out details for a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

After a rocky start to...

The world regulated sulfur in ship fuels − and the lightning stopped

Written by Chris Wright, Fellow in Atmospheric Science, Program on Climate Change, University of Washington

Lightning strikes the Mediterranean Sea.Matko Begovic/PIXSELL via Xinhua, via Getty Images

If you look at a map of lightning near the Port of Singapore, you’ll notice an odd streak of intense lightning activity right over the busiest shipping lane in the world. As it turns out, the lightning really is responding to the ships, or rather the...

5 years of COVID-19 underscore value of coordinated efforts to manage disease – while CDC, NIH and WHO face threats to their ability to respond to a crisis

Written by Katherine A. Foss, Professor of Media Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

As the pandemic accelerated in 2020, U.S. hospitals -- including this one in New York City -- set up tents to diagnose patients with COVID-19.Misha Friedman via Getty Images

Five years ago, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus, dubbed SARS-CoV-2, began as a...

What is a SLAPP suit? Legal experts explain how these lawsuits suppress free speech

Written by Jennifer Safstrom, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

Greenpeace activists at a pipeline resistance training camp in Washington state, Aug. 26, 2017.Tim Exton/AFP via Getty Images

Strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits, are civil claims brought against people or organizations who voice opinions publicly. These lawsuits are intended to intimidate opponents and suppress advocacy...

How Trump’s foreign aid and diplomatic cuts will make it harder for the US to wield soft power to maintain its friendships and win new ones

Written by Matthew Clary, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Auburn University

Soft power is lower-risk and lower-cost than hard power strategies.A Mokhtari/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The Trump administration has proposed shuttering USAID and cutting some of the State Department’s critical diplomatic programs; it has also announced tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. As scholar Borja Santos...

Mission possible − parastronaut programs can make space travel more inclusive and attainable for all

Written by Jesse Rhoades, Professor of Education, Heath & Behavior, University of North Dakota

The European Space Agency's astronaut cohort includes a parastronaut, as part of a feasability project. AP Photo/Francois Mori

Humans will likely set foot on the Moon again in the coming decade. While many stories in this new chapter of lunar exploration will be reminiscent of the Apollo missions 50 years ago, others may look quite different.

For...

From TB to HIV/AIDS to cancer, disease tracking has always had a political dimension, but it’s the foundation of public health

Written by Amy Lauren Fairchild, University Professor of Sociology, Syracuse University

Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in New York City and the U.S. overall in the late 19th century.Lewis Wickes Hine/Picryl, CC BY

Federal datasets began disappearing from public view on Jan. 31, 2025, in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump. Among those were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth...

End-of-life planning can be hampered by misconceptions − but the process is easier than you might think

Written by Anisah Bagasra, Associate Professor of Psychology, Kennesaw State University

Choosing a health care agent requires having some sensitive and potentially uncomfortable conversations about your end-of-life wishes.PictureLake via Getty Images

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people unexpectedly needed critical care such as ventilators but were unable to communicate their end-of-life wishes to their loved ones.

Researchers...

Trump’s DOGE campaign accelerates 50-year trend of government privatization

Written by Nathan Meyers, PhD Candidate in Sociology, UMass Amherst

Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has aggressively moved to shrink the federal government. His administration has frozen federal grants, issued executive orders aligned with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, and, most prominently, created what he calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

DOGE has been...