Erik Leaver

Erik is the communications manager at IPS. Previously he served as a research fellow with the peace and security program and with the Foreign Policy In Focus project.

Erik holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico. He worked with the Interhemispheric Resource Center in New Mexico on Foreign Policy In Focus before moving to Washington to continue his work at IPS in April 1999.

You can follow him on twitter at: erikleaver and on Netvibes at: http://www.netvibes.com/erikleaver

Latest

Citizen Participation in Presidential Debates Kicked to the Curb This Election

Erik Leaver | October 25, 2012

Campaigns mounted to ask the candidates questions about human rights abuses and atrocities in places like Darfur, the Sudans, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were ignored.

Pay Your Share: Stop Corporate Tax Dodgers

Erik Leaver | August 31, 2011

Corporate tax dodging has gone so out of control that 25 major U.S. corporations paid their CEOs more than they paid the U.S. government in federal income taxes.

When Science Goes Bad

Erik Leaver | January 12, 2011

In an effort to spare children from a dreaded disorder, parents exposed those children to other illnesses that had been considered remnants of the past.

Mock Drone Attack

John Feffer, Erik Leaver | October 8, 2010

IPS’ers take to the streets to show the public what a drone attack looks like from the point of civilians.

Withdrawal from Iraq: Remembering the Quaker’s Colonel

Erik Leaver | August 31, 2010

With 50,000 troops still on the ground inside Iraq and a lack of clarity when they will all come home, the war is anything but over.

Extreme Energy

Erik Leaver | May 25, 2010

Noted author and Hampshire College professor Michael Klare, whose latest book Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet describes the geopolitics of the energy crisis, will talk about the causes behind the Gulf oil spill.

Sliding Backwards on Iraq?

Raed Jarrar, Erik Leaver | March 2, 2010

The military brass once again floats the idea of indefinite occupation in Iraq.

Annotate This! President Obama’s Afghanistan Escalation Speech

Phyllis Bennis, Erik Leaver | December 2, 2009

An assessment of what Obama said — and what he didn’t say.

Iraq Throws Obama a Curve Ball, Key 2010 Elections in Peril

Raed Jarrar, Erik Leaver | November 19, 2009

Obama has muddied the waters in his response to the current election crisis.

Underlying Causes of Insecurity in Afghanistan

Gabriela Campos, Erik Leaver | November 6, 2009

Much of the Afghanistan debate has been centered in the U.S. But what do Afghans think?

Review: ‘Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network’

Erik Leaver, Duran Parsi | November 6, 2009

The breadth of A.Q. Khan’s nuclear proliferation is revealed in Gordon Corera’s provocative exposÃ.

UN Report Misleading on Afghanistan

Erik Leaver, Julien Mercille | November 5, 2009

A new report gives the impression that the opium trade is the main reason why the Taliban are gaining in strength, absolving the United States and NATO of their own responsibility in fomenting the insurgency.

From Geneva with Love: Breakthrough in U.S.-Iranian Relations?

Bernd Kaussler, Erik Leaver | October 30, 2009

Engaging Iran provides an American blessing upon the shattered hopes of millions of Iranians.

Rethinking Iran

Erik Leaver, Duran Parsi | October 29, 2009

Despite the belligerent talk from Western media, Iran is responding to internal and external pressure more than you think.

Setting Out the Conditions for ‘Success’ in Afghanistan

Erik Leaver, Mark Sedra | October 28, 2009

President Obama’s “war of necessity” is rapidly turning into a quagmire. Can it be saved?

A Shift in Focus: Changes in the Missile Defense Program

Gabriela Campos, Erik Leaver | October 26, 2009

Obama’s mixing it up on missile defense. But are we safer?

Engaging with the Muslim World Will Require More than a Special Representative

Anne Hagood, Erik Leaver | October 26, 2009

Mending relations with the Muslim world will take more than words.

Mexico’s Union Bust Reveals Flaws in NAFTA

Laura Carlsen, Erik Leaver | October 22, 2009

The long-term effects of allowing the economic crisis to erode labor rights and further impoverish an already-stricken nation will only lead to instability throughout the region.