By Roberto Simon, MPP ’16 What did I enjoy the most in our Japan Trek: Meeting Prime-Minister Shinzo Abe? Speaking with the Mayor of one of the cities evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear accident? Listening to a top diplomat speak off the record about Japanese-Chinese relations? Getting lost in Tokyo’s fish market before having the […]

Mexico has recently seen a sea change in shifts in public opinion regarding LGBT inclusion in public policy. 2013 was the first year a majority of the population surveyed (55%) supported the legalization of marriage equality, and an even higher percent (57%) agreed with allowing LGBT people to serve in the army. Further, over fifty percent […]

By Alikram Isayev MPP ’16 & Mushfiq Amirov —March 12, 2015, Cambridge, Massachusetts. – For the first time at HKS story organized cultural event Azerbaijan: Ancient Ties, Land of the Future. The public program Azerbaijan: Ancient Ties, Land of the Future cultural event celebrating the culture and contributions of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be […]

By Sarah Allin, MPP ‘15 Mississippi and the Deep South have been on the minds of many Americans as we remember key moments in the Civil Rights Movement. The 50th anniversaries of Freedom Summer, the Freedom Rides, and Selma in recent years lifted up the powerful history of the region and focused attention on how it […]

By Malik Siraj Akbar, Web Editor   In 1991, the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) admitted a young Chinese student, Edward Dianhui Dong, for the MPP program. Devoid of financial resources, Dong did not have the money to come to HKS but he, nevertheless, travelled from China to Cambridge to thank the School staff for accepting […]

The last twenty-five years have seen a near-exponential rise in American acceptance of LGBT equality and in the codification of rights reflecting that equality. The AIDS crisis increased the visibility of gay men, and of gayness itself, in the 1980s and ‘90s. Democratic politicians slowly adopted more pro-gay stances, and Republican leadership used that fact […]

By Katherine Blaisdell, Managing Editor CAMBRIDGE MA — David Miliband, the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former U.K. Foreign Secretary, will deliver the Graduation Address to the Harvard Kennedy School class of 2015. As President and CEO of the IRC, Miliband oversees the agency’s relief and development operations in more […]

On February 4th the TV show Broad City aired an episode about pegging that sent delighted shock waves throughout the interwebz. “Pegging,” for the uninitiated, is the term coined in 2001 on Dan Savage’s show, “Savage Love” for a woman anally penetrating a man using a strap-on dildo. Gleeful commentary briefly basked in joy: the […]

On Sunday, March 29th, 2015, a senior Iran negotiator in the P5+1 nuclear talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, told Persian news sources that there is no agreement taking place and there are “no plans” to continue the talks until March 31st—the day of the deadline. Earlier in March, White House Spokesman John Earnest, […]

On March 10th, the British parliament rushed through new anti-terror laws aimed at stopping potential jihadists from traveling abroad. In less than 15 minutes, it banned people subject to a “Terror Prevention and Investigation Measure” from boarding planes and obliged airlines to provide the government with detailed passenger lists. The Parliament further instituted “temporary exclusion […]

Covering the Middle East has fundamentally changed in the last decade, said Farnaz Fassihi, senior Middle East correspondent for the Wall Street Journal at a Shorenstein Center event. Increased security threats toward journalists in the Middle East and the quick turnaround times required for digital publishing have made it more difficult for Middle East correspondents […]

As Israelis flocked to the polls in last week’s elections, the West Bank remained calm. The 4.1 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza do not have the right to vote. Life went on as usual while only kilometers away, Israelis elected leaders who will determine policy affecting the Palestinians’ fate. Here are […]