If you've noticed the political campaigns this year, they haven't exactly been rich with issues and evidence.   You're more likely to hear emotions, anger, empathy and fear. This is the world that Drew Westen studies. He is professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, and author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation (2007), an  investigation into the role of emotion in determining the political life of the nation.

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies is hosting a panel discussion Monday afternoon on the role of forest management in the Afghanistan conflict. It’s not unusual for valuable natural resources, such as timber or diamonds, to play a role in military conflicts. For example, about a decade ago, the regime in  cut down forests and used the money from timber sales to buy weapons.

In the Vietnam War, the United States destroyed trees, using the herbicide Agent Orange, as a way to deny the enemy cover.