Democracy and Institutions

BY BRIAN CHIGLINSKY “I think I’m going to start with Fred.” I nodded. “That makes sense.” Fred was Nathan’s brain tumor. Fred was also a tried and true opener. It was a little weird, grabbed your attention, and then gave you a bridge into the real story about Nathan’s health insurance. Nathan even described Fred […]

The terrorist group aims to shrink the “grayzone”: the plane of coexistence between Muslims in the West and their non-Muslim countrymen.

BY ANDY VO At a campus like Harvard, it can be hard to find a conservative millennial. I initially reached out to Steven to discuss what it was like being just 23 years old and already a Masters student at HKS on a fellowship through the Air Force Academy. We met at Algiers Café, and […]

When it comes to IT, tech-savvy Turkey has big potential and ambitions – but could be hampered by government censorship and wary investors.

This past Saturday 25th of February, Thomas E. Pérez became the first Latino to be elected as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The DNC constitutes the governing body for the United States Democratic Party. Among the main activities of the organization are the quadrennial elaboration of a Democratic platform where the central ideas […]

Lebanon’s democracy might feel the biggest sting at the ballot box if the country’s politicians fail to agree on a new electoral law.

BY THOMAS KARL E. HOCKS Yes, Angela Merkel may lose power this year. No, it won’t be like Brexit or the United States presidential election. After the recent turmoil around Brexit and the administration of President Trump, eyes are on the French presidential elections in the spring and the German federal election in the fall. […]

A Saudi government agency tasked with providing entertainment options in the kingdom came under fire after approving a comic convention.

BY NATALIE GOODNOW AND BOBBIE RAGSDALE Today is International Women’s Day, a fitting time to discuss a topic at the forefront of the news over the last several months: abortion and women’s rights. Though abortion has been legal for decades, the issue is still a contentious one in the public sphere. Unfortunately, many people today […]

BY JESSICA SCHAUER LIEBERMAN On February 25th, the Democratic National Committee chose Thomas Perez, former Secretary of Labor and Harvard Kennedy School alum, as its new chair. The media billed the election that resulted in Mr. Perez’s victory as a battle for the party’s soul — a clash between its leftist and establishment wings. The […]

BY MATT TYLER I thought impact investing was central to curing social ills. Government was secondary, in my mind. I was wrong. Over the last 18 months, working with governments in the United States and Australia, I have focused on how to improve social outcomes for the most vulnerable. As a graduate student at the […]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has long been under fire for almost exclusively selecting and prosecuting cases on the African continent. Critics of the only permanent criminal tribunal of its kind have pointed to atrocities committed in Iraq, Argentina, or Ukraine as evidence that the ICC is not so much an impartial body, holding governments […]