Publications

When it comes to making decisions that involve risks, we humans can be irrational in quite systematic ways — a fact that the psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman famously demonstrated with the help of a hypothetical situation, eerily apropos of today’s coronavirus epidemic, that has come to be known as the Asian disease problem.

As women take on more leadership roles in the United States advancing social and political change, analysis of women’s contributions to the transformation occurring within the energy sector is critically important. Grassroots movements focused on energy justice and energy democracy focus on...

Much research has demonstrated that vulnerable people fare more poorly than non vulnerable ones in disasters and crises across a…

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) was established in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 to "develop a consensus on a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyber attacks of significant consequences." The finished report was presented to the public on March 11, 2020.

The growing scale and persistence of humanitarian crises constitute a critical problem for nation-states, aid organizations and crisis-affected people. Many humanitarian responders continue to focus on material aid, providing essential supplies and services during these crises, while other actors restore physical infrastructures...

It feels like these past few weeks and months have been a big human behavior experiment. COVID-19 has entered the scene of an ecosystem that is paradoxical. Humans are capable of solidarity, kindness, wisdom, and resilience. We are also primitive creatures who hoard toilet paper, fight, point fingers, and abandon reason when we’re scared.

Resilient societies are able to bounce back from disruptions. The capacity to rebuild physical infrastructure is, of course, important after calamity strikes. But resilience also requires shoring up social infrastructure, the ties that bind us together.

European Space Agency satellite images published in The New York Times on March 24 show dramatic reductions in air pollution in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle due to so many vehicles being off the road as people shelter in place. What a shame it took a pandemic...

The spread of Covid-19 has put a spotlight on delivery workers. Letter carriers, Instacart shoppers, and Amazon delivery workers are…

Retailers are frequently running out of everything from flour and fresh meat to toilet paper and pharmaceuticals as supply chains hammered by the coronavirus struggle to keep up with stockpiling consumers.

After September 11, 2001, infrastructures—the mundane systems that undergird much of modern life—were suddenly considered “soft targets” that required immediate…

Every state, city, and town is a system of systems. Public schools. Transportation. Housing. Local commerce. Industry and manufacturing. Law…