The Winter Games don’t deserve to be Olympic Games. BY JORDAN WARD, PANGYRUS This article is being published in collaboration with Pangyrus.   The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has a problem. With Stockholm, Krakow, and now Lviv pulling out of the running to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, they’ve been left with slim pickings. […]

BY WILL DENN Fahim Muhammad believed that until the Taliban were defeated, Afghanistan, his homeland, would never be safe.1 In 2006, despite the objections of his wife and two children, Fahim dropped out of school to become a U.S. military interpreter. Because of his excellent command of English, Dari, Pashto, and the obscure Nuristani language, […]

A New U.S. Defense Strategy for the 21st Century BY GREGORY WHITTEN AND ERUM JILANI THE UNITED STATES HAS EMBARKED on a new defense strategy: the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. Moving forward, the United States will play a deeper and more enduring role in promoting security and prosperity in the region. The rebalance to […]

Abstract Under the Compact of Free Association (COFA), citizens from Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands—also known as COFA migrants—are granted broad migration rights in exchange for providing the United States the use of and access to strategic military defense positioning in the Pacific. For many years, these […]

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, discusses the challenges to providing humanitarian assistance in Syria, the action (and inaction) of the UN Security Council in the crisis, and the politicization of aid. You can watch the interview, conducted by Jennifer Quigley-Jones, […]

Chad’s withdrawal from the international mission opens door for regional terrorist groups. As sectarian violence in the Central African Republic continues to spiral out of control, militant jihadist groups such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have taken notice. They have issued condemnations on several occasions, blaming France for […]

Srdja Popovic was a founder of the Serbian nonviolent resistance group Otpor! that led the successful campaign to unseat Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000. Popovic later served a term as a member of the Serbian National Assembly 2000-2003. In 2003, Popovic and other ex-Otpor! activists started the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and […]

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Soli Özel, Professor of International Relations, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, discusses Turkey’s politics, domestic concerns, and upcoming elections.  You can watch the interview, conducted by Delphine O, editor of the Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy and Master in Public Policy candidate at Harvard Kennedy School, […]

BY CROSBY BURNS A preliminary version of this post originally appeared on the Ash Center’s Challenges to Democracy blog Last year the City of Boston unveiled its plans to devote a portion of its capital budget towards a participatory budget, a social innovation that aims to reimagine citizen engagement, the appropriations process, and democratic participation. […]

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Executive Committee Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), discusses the ongoing peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and prospects for the future.  You can watch the interview, conducted by Colin Eide, Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and […]

Dr. Suzan Bartels is a co-author of the report ‘Running Out of Time – Survival of Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon’ that was published by FXB center last January.  She is board certified in Emergency Medicine in both the U.S. and Canada and is currently an attending physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as […]

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Dr. Khalil Al-Anani, Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, democratization in the Middle East and the hope for political stability in Egypt. You can watch the interview, conducted by Nada Zohdy, senior editor […]