Category: Public Affairs

  • How Three Latin American Authoritarian Leaders Continue to Remain in Power

    Autocrat, dictator, and socialist — these are some of the terms used to describe three of Latin America’s most controversial leaders: Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel. Democracy throughout Latin America has begun to erode, leaving the door open for authoritarian leaders to install their regimes. A panel of experts on […]

  • Trailblazing Women Share Inspiring Stories as Part of Women in Leadership 2022

    “Why women?” asks journalist and author Lynn Scherr at the outset of this year’s Women in Leadership panel. It’s a question that not only gives insight into the minds of the panelists but breaks open the issues presented to all women – politically and personally – in the year 2022. Labor leader and activist Dolores […]

  • How a Cross-border Existence Influenced Journalist and Writer Jean Guerrero

    Journalist Jean Guerrero grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border. Her Puerto Rican mother put herself through medical school and met Guerrero’s Mexican father on her first day in San Diego. Guerrero says she’s always been drawn to cross-border issues having traveled back and forth across the border to Tijuana with her dad. However, Guerrero was […]

  • NYT Columnist David Brooks Reveals What Motivates Him

    David Brooks is best known for his op-ed columns in The New York Times. But he’s also an accomplished author and observer of social behavior. His books include “Bobos in Paradise,” “The Social Animal,” “The Road to Character,” and his latest book “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.” In this candid and […]

  • Insights into Putin’s Power Grab in Ukraine and What’s Behind Authoritarian Regimes

    After weeks of posturing and the imminent threat of invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to roll tens of thousands of troops across the border into the sovereign country of Ukraine in late February. The campaign was preceded by a prolonged Russian military buildup around Ukraine, as well as numerous Russian demands for […]

  • What’s Behind Racial Resentment?

    “I’m not a racist, but…” This instinct to make judgments about “deservingness” in politics often animates those who believe they are “not racist,” but tend to oppose policies and ideas that advance racial justice, and blame racial-ethnic minorities for their social, political, and economic positions. That is one of the many arguments UC Berkeley Goldman […]

  • The Pros and Cons of Technology

    At this moment in history, technology surrounds us – even more so in the past two decades. It allows us to stay connected in unimaginable ways. Twenty years ago, the smartphone, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and video conferencing were all emerging technologies. The world was revolutionized with the advancement of 3G or third-generation connectivity in our mobile […]

  • Staying Accountable for Climate Commitments

    Leaders from around the globe have gathered at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the United Kingdom to focus on efforts being made to reduce the human impact of climate change. Those impacts and the urgency to act have not gone unnoticed in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). As world […]

  • Lessons from the H1N1 Pandemic of 2009

    Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius met with UC Berkeley students to explore the H1N1 Pandemic of 2009 and what lessons that pandemic might have for our current situation. Lesson number one: good communication is essential. According to Sebelius, Epidemiology has a couple of core principles […]

  • Defending Against the Ravages of Disinformation

    The rise of social media has given everyone with a smartphone or computer access to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter the power to broadcast their voice, their message to the masses with the touch of a button. The definition of social media is simple, interactive technology that allows the creation or sharing of information, ideas, interests, […]