Weekly Writers Round-Up: North Korean Construction, the Opioid Crisis, and Our Growing Budget Deficit

Each week, we’ll be featuring the work of the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. For more information on the program, see here.

Over-Regulation Is Fueling the Opioid Crisis by Michael Shindler (Spring 2016) in Real Clear Health
Over the last few years, the opioid crisis has become a dramatic part of America’s national narrative. Some, including J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” construe it as a symptom of economic and cultural dysfunction, while others like the poet Wendell Berry, insist that the crisis prevails “because we have lost each other”…

The Poor Will Pay for the Budget Deficit by John Kristof (Summer 2018) in The Daily Caller
For all the publicity Congress’s $1.3 trillion spending bill received back in March, President Trump signed another spending bill on Sept. 28 with surprising ease. While the budget is not a politically savvy talking point, this bill will have an immense impact on both parties’ bases. Sept. 30 marked the end of the United States’ 2018 fiscal year — one in which the Federal Government added $445 billion to the budget deficit. And as Capitol Hill’s deficit hawks like Speaker Paul Ryan remain silent, the country appears doomed to plunge deeper into the red…

The Improbable High-Rises of Pyongyang, North Korea by Nolan Gray (Fall 2015) in CityLab
On September 9, North Korea celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding in its usual manner: with a vast military parade. But ballistic missiles––a mainstay of the autocratic nation’s famously theatrical displays of might––were conspicuously absent. In their stead, uniformed construction workers marched and torchlight parades spelled slogans like “economic construction.” It was a sign of the times in North Korea, where saber-rattling has been partially replaced by boosterish displays of the country’s economic development prowess. As some observers have suggested, this offers some hope for the dreams of a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula. But the building boom has been years in the making, as Pyongyang’s rapidly changing skyline illustrates…

Khashoggi and Chaos: The Reckless Path of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince by Gil Barndollar (Summer 2018) in The National Interest
The fate of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi two weeks ago in Istanbul has punctured the myth of Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). After three years of gambles and missteps, both at home and abroad, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince may finally experience serious repercussions for his presumed role in Khashoggi’s apparent abduction and death…