‘Is it going to be a hayride? It has to be a hayride’
Without hay drops, cattle, some of whom have been without food for up to a week or more already, would die, further devastating ranchers and the Texas economy in Harvey’s wake.
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Medill National Security MSJ students take Harvey by storm
As Hurricane Harvey tore through southern Texas, the Politics and National Security Journalism Initiative at the Medill School of Journalism worked with the U.S. Army to arrange two embed opportunities for Medill students to cover the storm’s aftermath. Their work was published by the Houston Chronicle and U.S. News & World Report.
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Russia’s Sphere of Influence: Looking East and West
A new report by National Security journalists at Northwestern University’s Medill Graduate School of Journalism offers a detailed status report from six former Soviet client states now dealing with questions of independence and complex relations with Russia, the European Union, NATO….and inevitably, the United States.
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MOLDOVA: Corruption, EU-Russia Rivalry Threaten to Swallow it Whole
Moldova serves as a microcosm writ small for the problems plaguing other countries. Here, the issues are playing out faster and more intensely, built on a tide of state corruption and foreign influence.
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SERBIA: The Church of Putin, Balkan Ghosts and a New Silk Road
While Russia works to strengthen religious links with Serbia, the United States is seen by some Serbs as almost missing-in-action since the US-led NATO bombing of Serbia which helped to end the Balkan conflict some 25 years ago.
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GEORGIA: Nine Years After the War for Ossetia, Still Building Fences with Russia
Nine years after fighting between Georgians and Ossetian separatists led to a Russian intervention and a five-day war, Russia is still building fences —sometimes chain-link, sometimes barbed wire — across the administrative boundary line.
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LATVIA: Battling Russian Propaganda, Moving Slowly to the West
A flourishing economy and the benefits of EU and NATO membership are not enough to ease Latvians’ concerns about Russian influence.
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POLAND: NATO on Russia’s Border, a Propaganda War and Whispers of Invasion
Communist rule ended in Poland in 1989, but the threat of Russian encroachment is still felt strongly in Poland. Grievances against Russia remain fresh.
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BULGARIA: A Slow Turn to the West, but Euroscepticism on the Rise
In a country where corruption permeates all levels of government and politicians believe anti-European Union sentiment can help at the ballot box, people debate just how influential the Russian government really is.
Read moreContested Territory: Russia’s Sphere of Influence, Looking East and West
Under Putin, the former bastion of communism slowly but steadily has seen a resurgence in military and economic prowess, giving weight its geopolitical ambitions. In the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, Putin’s ambitions evoke fears for the future.
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