Indonesia’s new capital raises fears for orangutans, dolphins and more
As Indonesia builds a new capital on the island of Borneo, conservationists worry about the impact on orangutans, dolphins and other wildlife in the area.
Fear and Politics
‘October surprise’ fears bring out the worst in U.S. politicians
Donald Trump isn’t alone or the first politician to attempt to do whatever it took to ensure his campaign survived or secured an election victory.
Mass shooting hoax preys on ordinary fears of schoolchildren and parents in several U.S. states
Computer-generated ‘swatting’ hoaxes at Pittsburgh schools send chills through communities left reeling from school shootings
What it will take to reshape the global monetary order
BERKELEY, California – When the United States and its Group of Seven partners imposed sanctions on Russia’s central bank and barred Western financial institutions from doing business with Russian counterparties, commentators warned of far-reaching changes in the global monetary and financial order.
Other countries would see those sanctions as yet another step in the West’s “weaponization” of finance. Fearing that they, too, might one day be on the receiving end of sanctions, governments and central banks would reduce their dependence on the dollar, U.S. banks and the U.S.-dominated Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
China would be the principal beneficiary, these predictions continued. So far, China has sought to remain above the fray in the dispute between Russia and the West. It has a large banking system. It has created a Cross-Border Interbank Payment System to facilitate yuan settlement and provide an alternative to Fedwire and the Clearing House Interbank Payments System through which dollar payments are made.
What Makes Populist Messages Persuasive? Experimental Evidence for How Emotions and Issue Characteristics Moderate Populist Framing Effects
Communication Research, Ahead of Print. Research asserts that populist messages are more persuasive when the audience’s predispositions align with the framing and topic of these messages. Yet, few studies have empirically analyzed this assertion. In this article, we examine how people’s emotional reactions to social issues (fear/anger) and the belief that society is in decline condition people’s reactions to populist framed messages, and whether a populist framing is more persuasive on specific issues—that is, the European refugee crisis, climate change, or the pension crisis. We also focus on two effects of populist messages: issue-specific attributions of responsibility and populist attitudes. Based on a survey experiment, we find that people who are more fearful about social issues express more populist attitudes after reading a populist framed message, compared to a pluralist framed message, and that populist messages increase the attribution of responsibility to politicians for the European refugee crisis and climate change (i.e., global issues).
