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Trust Law and the Tides of Colonialism
No full textTethered to and inextricably linked with the absence or decline of democratic governance, there has always been empire. Empires rise and fall, as they say, but the imperial impulse is perennial and new iterations of old empires emerge with dismal regularity, showing us that imperial formations are hard to erase..
In the shadow of the dragon: Chinese soft power in central Asia
No full textThis article employs the theoretical framework of soft power to examine the complex and often contradictory dynamics of China\u27s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in central Asia. It addresses two interrelated puzzles: first, why China\u27s considerable economic investments and political influence have failed to translate into a corresponding increase in soft power across the region; and second, why responses to the BRI vary so markedly among central Asian states. While existing scholarship has largely emphasized concerns about debt and economic dependency, we argue that these explanations are insufficient on their own. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach that includes public opinion surveys, foreign-language media analysis, protest data, legislative changes and geospatial ethnic demography, we demonstrate that historically rooted territorial disputes and China\u27s treatment of co-ethnic populations, particularly ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, play a critical role in undermining China\u27s attractiveness. Contrary to China\u27s intent to cultivate influence through a bundled strategy of economic incentives and cultural diplomacy, our findings reveal that such efforts often backfire, generating popular suspicion and nationalist backlash. The study contributes to the broader literature on soft power by emphasizing the limits of state-directed attraction in contexts marked by historical grievances and ethnonational sensitivities
A Mini Spark: Casting Light on the Science of Candy
Full text linkEvery day, children experience something for the first time in their lives. In the mind of a child, many naturally occurring phenomena often feel like magic
An Investigation of Idaho Phragmites
Full text linkIn fall 2022, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture reached out to the lab of Dr. Carrie Wu, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Richmond, for assistance in determining the genetic lineage of a suspected invasive stand of Phragmites australis, a wetland reed which has proved to be particularly troublesome throughout its introduced range. Like most invasive species, Phragmites wreaks havoc by outcompeting native plants, which disrupts normal ecosystem operations
