Policy and Critique

This series traces how human activities have altered the planet's systems, and whether we can still choose to become its steward.

In 2018, Syrian regime officials announced that conditions for refugee return were safe. In the seven years since, fewer than 6% of Syria's 5.4 million registered refugees have gone back. Most of those who tried, re-fled. The gap between 'return' as a policy goal and 'return' as a lived event is the measure of what the displacement economy has actually built.

Zaatari camp in Jordan opened in July 2012. By 2026, it has operated for 14 years, making it Jordan's fourth largest city by population. UNHCR has spent approximately $1.8 billion managing it. Every year of that spending was described, in the documents that authorized it, as an emergency response.

In 2024, Germany received more political credit for hosting Ukrainian refugees than any country in the world. Lebanon, which hosts a refugee population comprising more than 25% of its total population and has done so for over a decade, received a fraction of that attention. A single index reveals why the arithmetic of generosity is almost entirely wrong.

In 1992, UNHCR opened a camp in northern Kenya for Somali refugees fleeing civil war. It was designed as a temporary measure. In March 2026, it is still operating. The data on protracted displacement tells a story that the word 'temporary' was never equipped to describe.

Exploring the privacy and data implications of connected cars in the modern world.

How the climate change is affecting property insurance markets, leading to soaring premiums and widespread nonrenewals.

How architectural and spatial design influence social dynamics, control, and power structures in organizations and societies.