Though Edric Huang was impressed by the organization & warmth of queer spaces in Tokyo, Japan as a whole remains largely homogeneous & conservative. Support for same-sex marriage has climbed to 70%, but traditional values persist, particularly within institutions: www.icwa.org/queer-japane...

Brazil makes up 47% of South America's landmass & a third of its population & economy. But although Brazil & the US are alike in many ways, the southern country is often overlooked, Andrew Weil Global Health Care Fellow Rowland Robinson reports from Fortaleza: www.icwa.org/brazil-tangl...

In Tokyo, David Mixner LGBTQ+ fellow Edric Huang met Akira the Hustler, a sculptural and visual artist whose 2000 memoir A Whore Diary chronicles his experiences as a gay escort. Akira and other queer Japanese artists are reformulating how queer bodies are seen in Japan: www.icwa.org/queer-japane...

Andrew Weil Global Health Care Fellow Rowland Robinson has his first encounter with Brazil’s national health service, Sistema Único de Saude, and begins to research Brazilian drug policy, which raises more questions than answers: www.icwa.org/brazil-tangl...

Michael Ignatieff and Robert Coalson on the violence at the core of American democracy: "any democratic system—and America is one example, but France is another—that starts in revolution, then has enormous difficulty keeping democratic argument peaceful." compass.icwa.org/p/this-is-no...

News organizations worldwide have called on US Department of Homeland Security to withdraw its plan to reduce the amount of time foreign correspondents may stay in the US to 240 days, down from the traditionally permitted 5 years, Elizabeth Wise reports for Compass: open.substack.com/pub/compass1...

Former ICWA fellow & executive director Peter Bird Martin reports on a secret 1954 meeting with the president of the African National Congress, Albert John Luthuli. Luthuli would later be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent anti-apartheid movement: compass.icwa.org/p/meeting-in...

On September 26 at 5pm, former fellow Susan Brind Morrow, author of the book Water, will participate in The Explorers Club event "Writing for Nature," responding to the question, "Where are we going, now that it's come to this?" For more information and tickets: www.explorers.org/calendar-of-...

Barry Rosen, a survivor of the Iran Hostage Crisis, writes for Compass about growing nationalism in Iran following the 12-Day War with Israel and asks whether Iranians will continue to support the repressive Islamic Republic: compass.icwa.org/p/after-war-...

Daniel Warner writes for Compass about the 1919 King-Crane Commission, whose report on the defunct Ottoman Empire might have served as a basis for resolving vexing issues in the Middle East & northern Africa: compass.icwa.org/p/a-forgotte...

During a visit to Tokyo, David Mixner LGBTQ+ fellow Edric Huang discovered the contemporary queer artists challenging the pressures of conservative Japanese society, which still offers few protections to queer people: www.icwa.org/queer-japane...

For Compass, Paul Starobin examines Russian exile media, a vibrant independent press covering the country from abroad with the aid of staff working anonymously from within: compass.icwa.org/p/how-to-rea...

"The real problem is the depth of American disillusion with the cost of being a global leader," Michael Ignatieff tells Compass's Robert Coalson. "Trump has been the first to ask, 'What’s in it for us?' so directly, but he won’t be the last." compass.icwa.org/p/this-is-no...

As ICWA marks its centenary this year, we’re looking back at the writing & lives of our fellows over the past 100 years. In this 1922 dispatch on Compass, our first fellow John O. Crane tours the countryside with Tomas Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president: compass.icwa.org/p/icwa100-cz...

São Paulo city & state govs have reinvigorated their decades long effort to gentrify Cracolândia, a central neighborhood known for its rampant public drug use. This violent displacement has dispersed Cracolândia’s inhabitants across the city, Rowland Robinson reports: www.icwa.org/night-in-cra...

Dilijan, an Armenian spa town nestled inside a national park in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, boasts an eclectic mix of old, new & Soviet architecture, storied monasteries, and a thriving natural wine scene, Aron Ouzilevski @aronouzil.bsky.social writes for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/the-switze...

NOAA produces some of the world’s most powerful climate models and is sustained by thousands of employees. Recent and future staffing cuts put NOAA’s computational power at risk, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports from Norway: www.icwa.org/arctic-ice-u...

Polina Barskova reviews @princetonupress.bsky.social's republication of The Third Reich of Dreams: The Nightmares of a Nation, a collection of dreams recorded in 1930s Germany by Charlotte Beradt. The book offers glimpses into how we process hostile realities: compass.icwa.org/p/dreams-com...

In Cracolândia, a central neighborhood known for its rampant public drug use, outreach workers are using art to engage people who live on the street, Rowland Robinson reports in his first dispatch from São Paulo, Brazil: www.icwa.org/night-in-cra...

Georgia market - photography by Anna Shmitko on Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/georgia-ma...

Climate science until recently relied on post-Cold War optimism & a dream of polar peace. That work came to a halt in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. I hardly imagined the next blow to Arctic science would come from my own country, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social writes: www.icwa.org/arctic-ice-u...

A local Rowland befriended fries churros out of the back of a car at a children's event at an evangelical church in Brazil.

In 1962, ICWA fellow Pat Holt wrote about the newly created Peace Corps’ arrival in Colombia. Volunteers faced extreme conditions, but locals welcomed them even if the mission was not always well understood. Today, Peace Corps Colombia supports over 120 communities. compass.icwa.org/p/icwa100-pe...

On the centenary of the Scopes ‘monkey trial,' Robert Coalson examines persistent echoes of the famous case today as the US continues to debate the role of the state in education, the separation of church and state & the role of courts in adjudicating “culture wars”: compass.icwa.org/p/prolonging...

For decades, US satellites have meticulously documented rapid changes in global ice mass. But with the defunding of NOAA, that data is disappearing, sending shockwaves through Arctic & climate research communities, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports from Tromsø, Norway: www.icwa.org/arctic-ice-u...

While visiting the beach town of Cumbuco in northern Brazil, Rowland met empty nesters @mudarorumoviagens, who have been on the road for 9 months in their VW Kombi, driving up the coast from São Paulo. "When will you make your way back to São Paulo?" Rowland asked. "Who knows," they said.

ICWA fellow & former executive director Steven Butler describes a 1984 trip to Panmunjom, a “truce village” in the demilitarized zone & important South Korean tourist site. It is a meeting point between the two Koreas & a powerful symbol of America’s involvement: compass.icwa.org/p/icwa100-wh...

Composer Roger Reynolds writes for Compass about the uncertainty of living in a "bridge-like state of transition," and the unprecedented shift of presenter and audience away from a shared performance space: compass.icwa.org/p/on-origina...

We all should.

For Compass, Marvin Kalb reflects on his mentor and the subject of the Broadway play "Good Night and Good Luck," CBS’s incomparable Edward R. Murrow, and asks, Who will stand up for the truth in our time? compass.icwa.org/p/murrow-a-j...

Rowland Robinson with his Forro dance school group at a collective birthday party during the "Fiesta Junina." Forro is the typical dance style from northeastern Brazil that is performed frequently throughout June & July to celebrate the Catholic saints.

Former ICWA fellow Sharon Griffin Doorasamy reflects on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and her own family's history as Black slaves and domestic servants in the US in this intimate 1996 dispatch: compass.icwa.org/p/icwa100-th...

Trustee & former fellow Katherine Kono spent her ICWA fellowship (1993–1995) in Saudi Arabia, France, Algeria, Yemen & Egypt, studying tradition & modernity in the Arab world. In this dispatch from Algiers, she reports on growing tensions between Islamists & police: compass.icwa.org/p/icwa100-th...

Rowland Robinson shares some photos from his new base in Brazil. In May, he accompanied non-profit workers to Cracolandia or "Crackland," a region of São Paulo known for its high incidence of drug use. In the video, he dances with folks living on the street--you can spot him by his patagonia!

As @newyorker.com celebrates its 100th anniversary, Adam Van Doren considers the legacy of the magazine's “lovable old volcano,” founding editor Harold Ross: compass.icwa.org/p/on-the-new...

By the end of the @ilgaasia.bsky.social conference, I wondered how we’d move emotional connections and bonds into action-oriented solidarity that wouldn’t fall into a trap of universalism or cultural relativism, Edric Huang reports from Kathmandu, #Nepal: www.icwa.org/ilga-nepal-c...

Former fellow @joshualevkowitz.bsky.social takes Compass on a tour of Mexico City cantinas, where classes mix and one can enjoy a drink and a snack while imbibing local culture and history: compass.icwa.org/p/in-praise-...

As Trump shakes traditional US alliances, #France has a trump card (no pun intended) it has played in the past that, if used again, could shift the debate about the raison d’être & future of NATO, Jean-Louis Doublet writes for Compass. France has nukes: compass.icwa.org/p/macron-sho...

The awarding of @pulitzerprizes.bsky.social for Nonfiction to @benjaminnathans.bsky.social's history of the Soviet dissident movement couldn’t be more timely, @gregoryfeifer.bsky.social writes for Compass. To the Success of our Hopeless Cause has important lessons: compass.icwa.org/p/review-opp...

Funding for substance use services in Portugal has declined due to a lack of political will. When the govt pushed through its reforms from 1999-2001, the heroin crisis was the number one issue for voters. Now it's in 14th place, Rowland Robinson reports: www.icwa.org/portugal-add...

Meet our fellows! And if you're a past or current fellow who has been left off this list, please request to be added 🧭 go.bsky.app/SsnQaBf

"The Trump admin has antagonism to development & democracy, any soft power—support of civil society abroad, rule of law, independent media. So US-funded intl media finds itself a real target," Jeffrey Gedmin, CEO of Middle East Broadcasting Networks tells Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/going-toe-...

This year, Nagoya Rainbow Pride attracted over 50,000 visitors & 1,200 parade participants. Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture, the first Japanese prefecture to recognize same-sex couples & their children as a family with its “Familyship Oath System” in early 2024.

Montenegro walk - photography by Anna Shmitko on Compass: compass1925.substack.com/p/montenegro...

Suriname’s capital Paramaribo is a tropical melting pot and waystation for globally displaced citizens heading north. The signs are everywhere, ICWA board member Joel Millman writes for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/signage-fr...

Portugal faces a critical shortage of medical professionals decades in the making due to stagnating funding across the national health service, the emigration of young people & policies limiting the number of medical students, Rowland Robinson reports: www.icwa.org/portugal-add...

Trump's freeze on foreign aid assistance had "catastrophic results," since LGBTQ+ groups around the world relied on USAID as societal stigma & discriminatory laws discouraged local donors from affiliating with them, Edric Huang reports from @ilgaasia.bsky.social: www.icwa.org/ilga-nepal-c...

Matt Chitwood returns to his fellowship base in the mountainous southwestern region of Yunnan, China, after four years away and finds the village has endured many changes in his absence. He writes about the wedding of former mayor Zhu Hong for Compass: compass.icwa.org/p/back-to-ba...

A century after the publication of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, @unisouthampton.bsky.social Professor @neilgregor.bsky.social writes for Compass about a new scholarly edition of the text and the resurgence of far-right thought, speech and action: compass.icwa.org/p/mein-kampf...

Organizations that make up Portugal's addiction treatment model—methadone vans, outpatient & inpatient treatment centers & therapeutic communities—are under strain because of budget cuts & a lack of political support, Rowland Robinson reports from Lisbon: www.icwa.org/portugal-add...