Business and Government

Leadership is replacing Africa rising as the new meme for Africa.  Fellowships, conferences and think tanks are all geared at building a new generation of African leaders armed with smartphones and tablets.   By simple definition, a leader directs or guides a group of people for a certain purpose. However, the contemporary leader is the thought […]

BY LESTER ANG John Hemke (not his real name) runs an international consultancy that advises Southeast Asian governments on strategies to develop their fishing industries for export. Hemke has been doing this for the past two decades, and he often describes his recent encounters with the respective fishery officials as nothing short of déjà vu. […]

In Fall 2015, JMEPP Co-Editor-in-Chief Kristin Wagner interviewed Hedi Larbi, Former Minister of Economic Infrastructure and Sustainable Development and a visiting scholar at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard’s Belfer Center. Below is an excerpt from the interview on the role of international monetary institutions in contributing to Tunisia’s future prospects. Other topics covered include measuring Tunisia’s success […]

BY CAITLIN RYAN The scene is familiar. Fresh snow coats your grandparents’ front lawn. The smell of turkey permeates. Your aunt beams as she collects obligatory compliments that her stuffing, once again, is a hit. Finally, your family members find a place at the table and your grandfather asks each of you to name something […]

BY JOSHUA C. FIVESON This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here.  In September 2013, the most active branch of the Al-Qaeda terror franchise—Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP— kidnapped a British-born American citizen. His name was Luke Somers. Raised in the United States, Somers pursued a degree in […]

BY ANDREW DEYE This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here.  POLICY ISSUE OVERVIEW The United States, once a global leader in infrastructure competitiveness, now ranks 16th.1 The decline shows no signs of abating as federal, state, and local funds for infrastructure remain constrained, and government resources remain centered on […]

  Abstract The Persian Gulf states have positioned the Middle East as a pivotal player in global aviation. Long-haul carriers, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, are exploiting the region’s unique geographic location and airport hubs to capture air traffic flows between emerging markets around the world. Meanwhile, low-cost carriers, like Air Arabia […]

Harvard Africa Policy Journal (APJ): Hi Lekan. Thank you very much for your availability for this interview. You are the CEO of Lekoil, a young Nigerian international oil exploration and production company. Where does the company have its offices? Lekan Akinyanmi (L.A.): Hi William. My pleasure! Thanks for inviting me! So, Lagos is the head […]

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, […]

BY CAITLIN RYAN How will Americans say “I love you” this Valentine’s Day? Through $18.9 billion in gifts to our darlings, according to the National Retail Federation. Over half of us will purchase candy, including an estimated 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. Yet as we hand our honeys that box of tasty morsels, do […]

BY CHRIS CLEARFIELD, ANDRÁS TILCSIK, BENJAMIN BERMAN A small error on August 1, 2012 nearly bankrupted the Knight Capital Group. Code from a discontinued software component was accidentally reused after nine years, and in just 45 minutes Knight’s automated order router had flooded the market with millions of unintended orders. Knight lost $460 million when […]

After years of tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and Iran have held the highest-level talks since the 1979 Revolution to negotiate the status of Iran’s nuclear program and have set a November 24 deadline to come to a deal. The Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy’s Lauren Leatherby asks Dr. […]