Public Policy Bits: Public Policy, Planning and Chess

Once a great Cuban world chess champion Jose Raul Capablanca was asked how many moves ahead he is able to see in a chess game. He famously responded: ‘one, the best one’. Karl Wittfogel, in 1957, published his seminal book “Oriental Despotism“, his claim that state-formation and organization of societies in hierarchies originated from large […]

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On Writing, Honesty and Van Gogh

I have recently received two reviews on my writing pieces, which felt like a great achievement for a number of reasons. Five or six other journals rejected one article before it was actually reviewed. Another, a chapter for a prestigious collection, which I am co-writing with a colleague in Australia, finally got reviews from two […]

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An Ode to Writing: Writing as a Practice of Freedom

What is Freedom? Many philosophers have tried to answer this question. When listening to Brene Brown’s talk on vulnerability, I often think of freedom in a way of breaking through the boundaries of the ‘comfort zone’, by making myself vulnerable and in a way, opening up new avenues for personal growth. And in making oneself […]

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Emotion and Policy Analysis

By Farhad Mukhtarov. It is not clear how to reconcile emotion and policy analysis which seem to encompass different worlds. The first is enveloped in subjectivity, whereas the second claims to be objective; the first occurs mostly in private sphere, whereas the second is mandated and takes place in public arena. The challenge is great: […]

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