Compass
A journal about global cultures and developments published by the Institute of Current World Affairs.
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Review: A man of no nation
Andrea Wulf rediscovers the pioneering 18th-century globalist George Forster.
Living in Cuba
As the economy approaches a breaking point under US sanctions, historic numbers of people are leaving. But some are deciding to stay.
Fellows
The latest dispatches from the institute’s fellows writing about the Philippines, Brazil and the Norwegian Arctic. Sign up for emails to follow their research.
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Resistance, reckoning and rock ‘n’ roll
How a small Sámi village in Norway came to host the world’s largest Indigenous cultural festival.
Ten years of post-truth
A decade after the launch of the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs,’ the country is grappling over facts and memory.
Letter from Amman
Behind an appearance of normality, airstrikes on Jordan are raising questions about its uncomfortable dependence on the US.
Advancing understanding of global cultures and affairs
The Institute of Current World Affairs has sent outstanding young professionals abroad to acquire deep knowledge of international societies for more than 100 years.
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From the archive
As the institute enters its second century, we’re looking back at the writing and lives of our fellows over the past 100 years.
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The Portuguese colonial holdouts
David Hapgood reports in 1962 about resistance to independence for Guinea-Bissau.
Encounter in Amazonia
Ann Mische reports from Brazil in 1989 about the roots of the environmental movement.
Operation Hajj
Dick Nolte reports in 1952 about a "turning point” US-Arab relations: a US mission to fly stranded pilgrims to Mecca.
We need your help to support our fellows
Support ICWAI can’t tell you how important the experience of the fellowship was for me. Those years I spent from 1971 to 1975 really shaped my ideas about health and healing in the natural world.
