When a VIP like Kissinger dies | Top 10

+ Israel's ethnic mix; why are some people bullies? US Edition - Today's top story: Henry Kissinger's bombing campaign likely killed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians − and set path for the ravages of the Khmer Rouge [View in browser]( US Edition | 3 December 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Happy Sunday − and welcome to the best of The Conversation. Here are a few of our recently published stories: - [COP28: 7 food and agriculture innovations needed to protect the climate and feed a rapidly growing world]( - [Santos expelled from House not because of what he said but how he said it]( When an important, famous or fascinating person dies, it may be surprising how quickly your favorite news site publishes a lengthy obituary describing their accomplishments, scandals and other details of their life. That’s because it’s long been a habit of news organizations to prepare “obits” well in advance of notable deaths. The Conversation is no different, and in fact we had published a sort of pre-obit on Henry Kissinger late last year just before he turned 100. So we were able to update the story by UMass Lowell’s Jarrod Hayes − which [explored the “tortured and devastating” legacy of Kissinger’s “realpolitik” foreign policy]( − immediately after he died on Nov. 29. While that story’s timeliness was owing to good preparation on the part of senior politics editor Naomi Schalit, we published a second piece on Kissinger almost simultaneously. That article was more luck − or premonition. The piece, which explores the traumatic impact of Kissinger’s policies on Cambodia, had been sitting on international affairs editor Matt Williams’ “to-do” list for some months. Heeding an intuition, he finished it up just a couple days before the news broke. As a result, we were able to quickly publish [Sophal Ear’s insightful piece](, which explains how the bombing campaign orchestrated by Kissinger gave rise to the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. When he was a child, Ear, a political economist at Arizona State, fled Cambodia with his family to escape the Khmer Rouge. For Americans like me who were born after the events of the Vietnam War, I believe the story illustrates the impact of foreign policymakers like Kissinger by examining the fallout of his policies in Cambodia. Readers also found the article extremely engaging, making it last week’s most-read story. Bryan Keogh Managing Editor Readers' picks The aftermath of U.S. bombs in Neak Luong, Cambodia, on Aug. 7, 1973. AP Photo [Henry Kissinger’s bombing campaign likely killed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians − and set path for the ravages of the Khmer Rouge]( Sophal Ear, Arizona State University A Cambodian scholar who fled the Khmer Rouge as a child writes about the legacy of Henry Kissinger, who died at the age of 100 on Nov 28, 2023. - [Israel’s mosaic of Jewish ethnic groups is key to understanding the country]( David L. Graizbord, University of Arizona The diversity of Israel’s Jewish population has been a source of tensions, but also strength, over the decades. - [Dozens of US adolescents are dying from drug overdoses every month − an expert on substance use unpacks the grim numbers with 3 charts]( Ty Schepis, Texas State University Among adolescents, boys are more likely to die of an overdose than girls, and using combinations of drugs substantially raises the risk of an overdose. - [Why are bullies so mean? A youth psychology expert explains what’s behind their harmful behavior]( Sara Goldstein, University of Delaware No matter your age, if you’re being bullied − there’s help out there. - [A brief history of the US-Israel ‘special relationship’ shows how connections have shifted since long before the 1948 founding of the Jewish state]( Fayez Hammad, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences A historian of the Middle East examines the decades-old ‘special relationship’ between Israel and the US. Editors' picks U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, second from left, during climate negotiations in 2021. Ian Forsyth/Getty Images [The psychology of climate negotiations: How to move countries from national self-interest to global collective action]( Asif Husain-Naviatti, Columbia University Negotiating global progress on climate change involves walking a fine line, as a former UN official explains. - [A tortured and deadly legacy: Kissinger and realpolitik in US foreign policy]( Jarrod Hayes, UMass Lowell Henry Kissinger’s influence on US foreign policy was profound. His transactional approach – avowedly values free – included support of murderous and genocidal foreign leaders. - [Native American mothers whose children have been separated from them experience a raw and ongoing grief that has no end]( Ashley L. Landers, The Ohio State University Native American families have endured generations of systematic child removal, but the grief, loss and trauma that birth mothers still experience have been largely overlooked. - [Writing instructors are less afraid of students cheating with ChatGPT than you might think]( Daniel Ernst, Texas Woman's University; Troy Hicks, Central Michigan University A survey about college writing instructors’ fears and anxieties about AI demonstrates that student cheating isn’t their only concern. And in fact, many have embraced it as a teaching tool. - [There’s a financial literacy gender gap − and older women are eager for education that meets their needs]( Lila Rabinovich, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Only a small fraction of women have received any financial education at all. News Quiz 🧠- [The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz]( Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on Kissinger, Santos, Phoenix and COP28 Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails: [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](