A new study by Buffett Faculty Fellow VS Subrahmanian and Northwestern University Law's Daniel W. Linna surveyed a random sample of federal judges on their AI use and found the majority are using at least one AI tool in their judicial work. Read key insights: news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026...

We are all too familiar with the crises of our time: global warming, uncontrolled technological change, disrupted labor markets, eroding social norms, and new geopolitical conflicts, for starters. But what comes next? And how might we innovate for a better future?

The New Yorker's cover story this week by Daniel Immerwahr argues that Trump's foreign policy represents an acute shift away from decades of US ambition for international order, empire, & hegemony—& many of the constraints that previously limited US military action: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

In December 2019, dozens of Ghanaian-American returnees received citizenship in Accra’s Jubilee House—a spectacle emblematic of pan-African tech optimism. Our video of the week explores the contradictions of Africa's digital future. Ft. Reginold Royston at @buffett.northwestern.edu buff.ly/qLN9NJE

The styles of NYC and LA hip-hop will meet centuries-old storytelling traditions from Damascus at Neo-Hakawati Nights on Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 PM in the Louis Theater. Rapper and poet Omar Offendum will join multi-instrumentalist Zafer Tawil. RSVP required: www.eventbrite.com/e/neo-hakawa...

@fox32chicago.bsky.social interviewed our Making Water Insecurity Visible group leads @profserayoung.bsky.social & Julius Lucks about their research piloting at-home water quality sensors as easy to use as at-home COVID tests to check for toxins in drinking water. 🎥: www.youtube.com/live/tc2J7cQ...

@thedailynu.bsky.social highlighted Buffett Visiting Scholar Georgia Rose, psychology professor at the University of the West Indies, for her powerful talk at @buffett.northwestern.edu on how Jamaicans coped with the traumatic aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. 📖: dailynorthwestern.com/2026/01/07/c...

We capped our yearlong international diplomacy series with a 4-hour peace conference simulation designed by @polisciatnu.bsky.social's Prof. @danigilbert.bsky.social, challenging undergrads to negotiate a fictional peace deal under real-world pressures. 🧵

Congrats to NU undergrads Shraeya Iyer, Jeffrey Tu, & Isabel Su presenting at NetSciX (Feb 17–20), supported by @buffett.northwestern.edu scholarship! Talk: A Multiplex Lens on Influencer Performance, Group Synergy, and Network Centralization Co-Authors: Megan Chan & @noshir.bsky.social

“We normally perceive development as a technology-based route,” says Sarah—but real development is rooted in context, culture & history. That’s the vision behind @buffett.northwestern.edu's Elliott Scholars Program, blending theory + global internships. More: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2025/re...

What does the US military operation in Venezuela mean for US–Latin American relations & international law? Faculty experts shared insights at the Buffett Inst.: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2026/the-aftermath-of-operation-absolute-resolve-northwestern-faculty-discuss-us-latin-america-relations.html

How can lessons from past peace agreements shape today's? The last panel of our symposium on negotiating peace featured lawyer Barney Afako, former Ukrainian minister Pavlo Klimkin, OSCE's Kate Fearon, & @fbafolke.bsky.social's Pontus Ohrstedt on the successful implementation of peace agreements.

Last year, @buffett.northwestern.edu launched the Elliott Scholars Program to help students to bridge theory & practice in international development. Meet Mira, an inaugural Elliott Scholar who spent summer in Thailand with an Indigenous-led nonprofit—read: buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2025/re...

Some at our symposium on disinformation suggested the idea that fact-checking “doesn’t work” may be gaining traction. That alarmed Angie Holan of @factchecknet.bsky.social. She argues for being more precise about what’s failing & explains who benefits when we’re not: www.poynter.org/fact-checkin...

In November, ten Northwestern students attended COP30—the UN's climate change conference—in Brazil via a research seminar opportunity offered through @buffett.northwestern.edu. This week, they presented their research & reactions—read in @thedailynu.bsky.social: dailynorthwestern.com/2026/02/04/c...

Join NU Global Health Studies for a public lunch lecture to learn how the role of African intellectuals in early 20th century discussions among British colonialists & American progressives about Africans' health can offer lessons for global health today. RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/suffering-...

Join us for a conversation with founder & CEO of the Karam Foundation Lina Sergie Attar on her work to move humanitarian aid for post-war Syria beyond emergency relief toward long-term resilience 🗓️ Mon. Feb. 9 at 12:30 💻 Attend online: northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Interested in learning about accountability for social media companies? Don't miss our CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social speaking at @buffett.northwestern.edu's Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World Symposium. 📆 January 23rd 📍Chicago, IL Register today ⤵️ https://bit.ly/4qNnOag

Join us for tomorrow's discussion of Operation Absolute Resolve, the recent US military operation in Venezuela. This panel discussion will examine the origins, legitimacy, and consequences of US actions; the future of US–Latin America relations; and how these actions impact international law.

Looking forward to speaking with Ambassador Julie Smith on Tuesday.

Vicky Wang & Elizabeth Lowry spent last year working as Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows under art history Professor Yuthika Sharma. Wang focused on organizing archival materials & developing foundational research skills while Lowry traveled to London & Paris to work in archives.

Interested in learning about accountability for social media companies? Don't miss our CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social speaking at @buffett.northwestern.edu's Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World Symposium. 📆 January 23rd 📍Chicago, IL Register today ⤵️ https://bit.ly/4qNnOag

As social media giants scale back content moderation and governments shutter counter-disinformation programs, some experts warn we are entering a “post-moderation era.” Join us for Global Disinformation in a Post-Moderation World, a two-day symposium on how these shifts are reshaping the globe.

Submit a new translation of important literary & scholarly works to the 2026–27 Humanities in Translation Prize by Friday,Jan. 16 📝 The winner will receive a cash prize and a commitment from @NorthwesternU Press to publish the finished work. 🔗 Learn more nupress.northwestern.edu/humanities-i...

Among our inaugural Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows were Atarah & Luke, who spent a summer under the mentorship of Prof. KB Dennis Meade helping produce a documentary focused on a Revivalist religious community in Jamaica, synthesizing Kongo-derived spiritual traditions & colonial religions.

Our inaugural photo contest for undergraduates yielded some incredible shots of our Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows, Elliott Scholars, and International Senior Thesis Grantees embarking on research and community-based internships in locations ranging from Argentina to Thailand to Germany.

The second panel of our spring symposium, Negotiating Peace in a Multipolar World, brought together diplomats, negotiators, & academics to draw lessons from landmark peace negotiations for designing successful peace processes in a world confronting a crisis of multilateralism.

We spoke with one of our inaugural fellows, Cansada "Sadie" Barlow, about her experience as one of our inaugural Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellows. She collaborated with @polisciatnu.bsky.social Professor Ian Hurd to examine the concept of world order through a skeptical lens.

“We cannot secure the world from malign actors if we cannot foresee the threats they pose,” said McCormick School of Engineering's Professor V.S. Subrahmanian, Buffett Faculty Fellow and head of the Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) at NSAIL's annual conference earlier this month. 🧵 1/2

Thanks to @technologyreview.com and Finian Hazen (who was a student in my special seminar @buffett.northwestern.edu) for this profile of our work @citizenlab.ca

For our graduate-level photo & video contest, graduate students submitted entries showcasing their research abroad supported by @buffett.northwestern.edu. Explore submissions from our winners, who traveled to China, Colombia, Liberia, India, and Thailand: spr.ly/63320CkG0o

"I felt the only way I could do the Iraqi people justice was to travel to Iraq and hear their thoughts and views directly," shared Hamza Haq, a recipient of @buffett.northwestern.edu's International Senior Thesis Research Award, who traveled to Iraq to study the security policies of holy cities.

Moments of public “shaming” can take on unexpected political meaning online. Our new Buffett Q&A features Northwestern Qatar professor Heather Jaber’s forthcoming book, Eating It: Digital Bahdala & the Politics of Humiliation, supported by a Buffett / Kaplan Institute fellowship... 🧵1/2

Today is the annual Conference on AI & National Security, hosted by the Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) directed by Professor VS Subrahmanian and co-sponsored by Ireland's @ucc.ie and @insightcentre.bsky.social. 🧵1 About the conference: mailchi.mp/northwestern...

At our annual Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies Lecture last month, Ambassador (ret.) Ian Kelly shared insights into the West's wishful thinking that got Moscow so wrong for so long... 🧵 1/5

Check out our newsletter for... 🧵/3 🇲🇷 ➡️ 🇸🇦 A from 2024–25 Buffett Faculty Fellow Zekeria Ahmed Salem, who shares how his fellowship enabled him to retrace Hajj routes once traveled by the scholars at the center of his book project, Islamic Knowledge Unbound buffett.northwestern.edu/news/2025/my...

How can we sustain trust and counter disinformation in a changing digital world? Join Ellen McCarthy, Suzanne Nossel, James Warren, and @leslievinjamuri.bsky.social in a partner event with @buffett.northwestern.edu and the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America on 1/22. brnw.ch/21wYdoS

For your #Oscar consideration for Best Short #Documentary - "Far from Home" is now viewable on the @theacademyusa.bsky.social Awards portal. When #Afghans are being demonized in the US, this award-winning short tells the humanizing story of one woman’s fight for a safe home for her family.

At our recent Buffett Book Talk with anthropologist Chelsie Yount, she shared insights from Selective Solidarity: Children & Middle-Class Moralities in Transnational Senegal, her ethnography of Senegalese households in Paris & Dakar that analyzes ways families negotiate transnational kinship 🧵

Submit a new translation of important literary & scholarly works to the 2026–27 Humanities in Translation Prize by Jan. 16 ✏️ This prize aims to bring international attention to works from around the world, particularly from less commonly translated languages.

Congrats to Matej Jungwirth, @polisciatnu.bsky.social PhD candidate & former Buffett Research Fellow, on his honorable mention for the Doris Graber Best Student Paper Competition at MAPOR. His paper shared insights from his survey experiment study of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic... 🧵

What does political resistance look like in real time? IL Governor JB Pritzker talks with Northwestern's Professor Peter Selvin (also a @buffett.northwestern.edu advisor) about the rise of “modern tyranny" & why he’s willing to say: “Come & get me.” Read & listen: www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-...

Northwestern alumna Roberta Buffett Elliott has made a new $11.8 million gift to support global undergraduate initiatives at the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and the newly renamed Roberta Buffett International Studies Program. 🌏🎓✈️ Learn more: news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025...

November's Buffett First Friday Lunch featured Buffett Visiting Scholar Roberson Alphonse, head of national news at Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's oldest and largest daily newspaper, and Nathalie Cardichon, journalist/communication specialist and former leader at several nonprofit agencies in Haiti.

🪖 How will AI-driven warfare shape global stability? ❓ What guardrails are essential for responsible AI governance? 📱 How can we counter AI-powered scams & malware? ⚖️ How can courts preserve trust in digital evidence as deepfakes enter the courtroom? Join us on Thursday, December 11... 🧵

Jeffrey Winters, @polisciatnu.bsky.social Professor & Director of @buffett.northwestern.edu's Equality Development & Globalization Studies (EDGS) Program, spoke with @abc7.bsky.social about the risk of a mass exodus of the rich from NYC following Mamdani's election. abcnews.go.com/Business/ric...

Join us at Global Health Day! 📆 Wed, Nov 19 📍 Lurie Medical Research Center, 303 E Superior St, Chicago www.globalhealth.northwestern.edu/events/globa... #globalhealthday #globalhealthday2025

For a 5th year, a Northwestern delegation supported by @buffett.northwestern.edu is attending the world’s largest annual international treaty negotiations & climate summit, the 30th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held this year in Belém, Brazil.

A decade after Northwestern University alumna Roberta Buffett Elliott gifted $101 million to establish the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, her mission to transform global studies at Northwestern continues to thrive—empowering students & faculty to tackle challenging global problems.

Danielle Ortiz, who studies environmental political theory, was part of Northwestern's delegation to COP29, supported by @buffett.northwestern.edu. While attending the conference, Danielle observed meetings between grassroots organizations and international policymakers.