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There is More to the Transatlantic Freeze than Donald Trump
12.19.19
Even at Harvard, a liberal Atlanticist bubble where the Marshall Plan was first announced, events to celebrate NATO’s 70th Anniversary celebration were sparsely attended by American students, unlike Europeans who were excited to attend. Expectations for the NATO summit scheduled this month in London were low, and organizers hoped at best to avoid new tensions […]

Interest Rates Must Remain Disinterested: The Growing Threat to Central Bank Independence and Why It Must Be Preserved
12.17.19
Of the many possible sites for a heated political showdown, the target federal funds rate hardly registers on the front lines. Yet in December 2018, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to decry the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark rate. Breaking more than two decades of White House silence on monetary […]

Women in Power Presents: The Best Books of 2019
12.13.19
This time of year, after finals wrap up and we’re headed back home, we finally get the chance to catch our breath, spend time with the people we love, and curl up with a good book. The holiday pause creates an opportunity for reflection and gratitude for community. This winter break, I am grateful for […]

The Limits of Power-Sharing in Lebanon: Can Protests End 200 Years of Sectarian Politics?
12.12.19
This moment offers a rare opportunity for foreign powers to help break Lebanon’s historical cycles of violence and support demands for a shift to a more robust and representative democracy.

The Disjointed State of US–Africa Affairs
12.10.19
Africa in the 21st century is young, urban, and digitally connected. More than half of all Africans are younger than 20. By mid-century, more Africans will migrate to cities than on any other continent in the world, seeking opportunity across both physical and digital spaces. Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced the highest growth in internet usage […]

Why Harvard Graduate Students Are On Strike
12.6.19
On December 3rd 2019, the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) strike went on an indefinite strike. Despite steady snowfall through the day, students marched in Harvard Yard demanding a “contract now”. Speaking with The Citizen, Ege Yumusak, a graduate student in the Department of Philosophy and a member of the bargaining committee, said […]

The Legitimization of Inequality
12.5.19
Meritocracy is generally celebrated as an ideology that promotes equality of opportunity, and hence, seen as just. Xuan Yee interrogates this view by exploring the moral, psychological, and intellectual ramifications of meritocracy when taken to its extreme. He argues that an unquestioned belief in meritocracy is dangerous, for it encourages the successful to justify their own moral deservingness of their position in society, and thus, legitimizes inequality.

Africa-East Asia Relations: Any Opportunities for Japan-China Cooperation?
12.3.19
East Asia’s footprints in Africa over the past few decades have significantly evolved from mere diplomatic presence to encompass steadfast multilateral engagements. The growing engagements have been enabled by the two major East Asian countries – Japan and China. Both countries have supported Africa with investments and development aid. Japan, for example, through the Tokyo […]

A Quest for Relevance: The United Nations’ Tryst with Youth
12.3.19
It was an ordinary Monday afternoon when some of my colleagues and I at the United Nations Women’s Headquarters in New York suddenly disappeared from our offices in unison. We rushed to a small conference room at lunch with determination in our pace and long lists of ideas and demands in our notepads. After many […]

Episode 2: Mayor of Topeka, Kansas, Michelle De La Isla Podcast (Part 1)
12.3.19
Listen Here! Welcome to our second HJHP Podcast for the 2019-2020 academic year. For the second episode of our series, Pain to Power, we interviewed Mayor of Topeka, KS Michelle De La Isla. In our conversation with Mayor De La Isla, we learned about her journey from New York to the Mayoral office in Topeka. […]

Institutional Racism Lives at HKS, Compromising Its Effectiveness as a Public Service Institution
11.29.19
“Over the last few years many Negroes have felt that their most troublesome adversary was not the obvious bigot… but the white liberal who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice, who prefers tranquility to equality…Even in areas where liberals have great influence…schools…and politics—the situation of the Negro is not much better than in […]

The Rise of the Global South: Can South–South Cooperation Reshape Development?
11.26.19
The increasing humanitarian consequences of climate change and the global refugee crisis have disproportionately affected developing countries.