Brown Journal of World Affairs

Editor’s Foreword

The breadth of this edition of the Journal spans topics both global and granular in nature, with authors from a variety of backgrounds: academics, practitioners, artists, and activists. The articles featured grapple with some of the most pressing challenges facing the world today, from the persistence of famine and malnutrition to the ongoing effects of a warming planet.

Our first section, Cinema, Culture, and Conflict, examines the art of filmmaking, delving deeply into cinema as a tool for both documenting and shaping our changing world. As the authors in this section argue, cinema can be a powerful means of structuring historical remembrance and cultural discourse. Our authors treat cinema as a site of conflict, whether between rich and poor or between a country and its historical wounds. The section also spotlights the viewpoint of the filmmaker, offering perspective into the creative process of creating a cinematic work, as well as the continued importance of film in a turbulent world.

Our next section, Global Politics of Hunger, problematizes hunger as a complex socioeconomic and political failure, interrogating the systemic structures that allow famine and malnutrition to persist despite technological and agricultural advances. Our authors draw on decades of expertise studying and working with global food systems, positioning hunger within the wider global context. The section is both forwards- and backwards-looking, examining past famines such as those in Somalia, while also offering insights into possible paths forward as the nutrition transition continues.

The Journal’s third section turns its focus northwards, spotlighting the Resource Geopolitics of a Melting Arctic. In recent years, the Arctic has become a subject of intense scrutiny and public debate; once ignored, it now takes center stage in some of the most widely discussed subjects in today’s world, from climate change to energy independence to great power conflict. Our authors work to separate the public narratives—presented by the media, politicians, and activists—from the reality facing the Arctic as permafrost thaws and conditions rapidly change.

This issue concludes with the Essays & Interviews section, which spans topics from vernacular languages to the morality of citizenship. Discussing topics both regional and global in scope, Essays & Interviews aims to broaden our understanding of world affairs through offering insight into a unique array of topics.