Kennedy School Review
Established in 1999, the mission of the Harvard Kennedy School Review (KSR) was to publish articles that offer compelling analysis and insight and put forward pragmatic and innovative solutions for the major issues of our time. KSR sought to publish timely, provocative, important articles that influence policymakers and practitioners, stimulate public debate, and showcase the best work of Kennedy School students. KSR provided an opportunity for students to challenge, change, and influence the policy debate on crucial policy issues.
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Driving Youth Outcomes Through Collective Impact
10.4.15
BY HAYLING PRICE AND JACOB COHEN This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here. Introduction The zip code a child resides in should not determine his or her life prospects. Yet, many neighborhoods of concentrated poverty struggle to provide children with pathways to opportunity. To address this intractable moral and […]
We Need Gun Control. Now.
10.3.15
BY MICAELA CONNERY This is the first of a two-part student series stemming from a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School on gun control. If you would like to respond, send your pitch to harvardksrpitches@gmail.com. On Wednesday, 15 Harvard Kennedy School students with differing opinions, backgrounds, and nationalities sat around a table to discuss gun […]
US and China Reach Historic “Cyber Arms Control Agreement” – But Will Anything Come of It?
10.2.15
BY JESSICA ZUCKER Standing side-by-side in the White House rose garden on September 25, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that they had reached a “common understanding” to combat “cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property.” In a widely anticipated announcement, the two leaders also agreed to respond to requests for law enforcement […]
Presidential Candidates Are Talking About Everything But Education
09.30.15
BY LUCY BOYD The second Republican debate in September covered everything from the Iranian nuclear deal to vaccinations. Climate Change. Immigration. Putin. China. All were given significant airtime during the lengthy three-hour time slot. One important topic left completely unaddressed: our failing public education system. But that may not be a bad thing. The Common […]
What Flag Will Fly on Mars?
09.29.15
BY DAVID PAYNE Within 50 years, human beings will go on one-way journeys to permanent settlements on Mars. That claim is audacious but is being increasingly echoed by the likes of Elon Musk and supported by the plans of various companies, governments, and non-profit organizations. With the premiere of The Martian this week and as […]
The 70th Anniversary of the United Nations: Lessons for Responding to the Neglected Syrian Civil War
09.28.15
BY ORGA CADET This week, more than 150 heads of state will convene at the UN’s headquarters in New York for the 70th session of the General Assembly. The theme? “The United Nations at 70: the road ahead for peace, security and human rights.” One of the session’s objectives is to “draw lessons from the […]
Free to Create: China’s Quest for an Innovative Economy
09.23.15
BY PAUL CHEN This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here. Seven-hundred million Chinese have grown out of poverty since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched economic reform programs in 1979. Harvard’s Tony Saich summarizes the reform efforts as introducing economic liberalization while retaining political control, a governance model that […]
Trouble in the Neighborhood: Mexico’s Search for the Missing 43
09.16.15
BY TANIA DEL RIO Things have not been quite the same in Mexico since Sept. 26, 2014. It is hard to know for sure what happened that day, and with the release of a report on Sept. 6, 2015, almost a year after, it became painfully obvious that we may never know. What is certain is […]
The Chinese Language as a Soft Power Tool
09.10.15
BY ZACH MONTAGUE Close to a decade into Beijing’s global soft power campaign, not much about the plan has worked. As devised by former President Hu Jintao back in 2007, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has invested billions annually in initiatives worldwide designed to complement China’s economic and military power with renown for its […]
Evangelizing in the Inner City
08.23.15
The Role of White Evangelical Churches in Urban Renewal BY EUGENE SCOTT This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here. Over the past decade, cities have increased significantly in popularity. While the mid-twentieth century saw the rise of the suburb—due in part to white flight— the early twenty-first century is […]
Reporter’s Notebook: Inside the Brothels of Mumbai
08.21.15
BY SHANOOR SEERVAI This essay is excerpted from the single ‘Daughters of the Red Light: Coming of Age in Mumbai’s Brothels.’ I am seated cross-legged on a brothel floor on a hot April afternoon. The door is ajar. Just beyond it, a disheveled man in a grey pinstriped shirt appears at the top of the […]
Indian Media: Crisis in the Fourth Estate
08.18.15
BY UZRA KHAN This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here. One morning in 2014, Deepika Saran,1 a young employee at an e-commerce startup in Mumbai, got a call from The Times Group, India’s largest mass media company. “We’re interested in featuring your company in a supplemental spread on new […]