Nation & World

All Nation & World

  • The view from inside Facebook

    Monika Bickert, the head of global policy management for Facebook, discussed the social media giant’s policies and evolution with Harvard’s Jonathan Zittrain.

    Monika Bickert and Jonathan Zittrain looking up at a screen
  • Getting from no nuclear to slow nuclear

    Environmental fellow Michael Ford and climate scientist Daniel Schrag say that improved nuclear power could play an important role in U.S. energy production midcentury and beyond.

    Michael Ford and Daniel Schrag.
  • John Kerry, still in the game

    During a visit to Harvard, former Secretary of State John Kerry encourages students to do more than show up to vote: to take action.

    John Kerry and IOP fellows
  • Reflections of an envoy

    During a Harvard visit, Caroline Kennedy recalls her years as ambassador to Japan, including President Obama’s trip to Hiroshima.

    Caroline Kennedy
  • The machinery to drive ed reform

    In an interview, Harvard’s Paul Reville explains the goals of an upcoming conference that invites mayors, school officials, and community leaders to discuss how to drive meaningful educational reform.

    Illustration of young girl with abacus inside of head.
  • A prophet of peace

    An interview with Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and 2016 Peace Prize winner for his efforts to negotiate an agreement that ended a 50-year-long internal conflict and brought peace to Colombia.

    Juan Manuel Santos.
  • One election winner: the pollsters

    It’s debatable whether the midterm elections delivered a demonstrably better night for Democrats than Republicans. But it was inarguably a big win for pollsters, says FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver at Harvard’s Political Analytics Conference.

    Moderator Kirk Goldsberry and panelists Nate Cohn and Amanda Cox.
  • Back to Myanmar with fresh insights

    Yee Htun, a Myanmar native who immigrated to Canada as a refugee and returned to work as a human rights lawyer in her native country, now teaches human rights advocacy at Harvard Law School.

    Yee Htun.
  • U.S. and Russia, behind the curtains

    A high-level intelligence group gathered at Harvard Kennedy School to analyze current relations between the U.S. and Russia, and gauge future goals of each.

    Douglas Lute (from left), Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Kevin Ryan, and Daniel Hoffman
  • Sotomayor: Judges should pull together

    Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor comes to Harvard Law School to talk to students, suggests that judges cooperate more.

    Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
  • Opioid crisis shadows rural America

    A Harvard Chan School panel reacted to a report that lists the opioid crisis and the economy as top concerns for Americans in rural areas.

    Harvard Chan School panel.
  • Post-election outlook: Little cooperation

    Democratic and Republican strategists came together at Harvard Kennedy School to unpack the midterm election results. In their wake, the panelists agreed that political cooperation may get even rarer in the next two years.

    U.S. flag on cracked background.
  • And the winner is: Who you think it is

    Harvard faculty discuss the results of the midterm election and what they portend for governing the nation over the next two years and for the run-up to the presidential election in 2020.

    Mid-term election night
  • Memo to America: Not everyone wants to be like you

    Professor Stephen M. Walt’s new book, “The Hell of Good Intentions,” is a critique of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.

    The American flag flies at the U.S. Capitol.
  • Raising the profile of animal law to match the stakes

    Scholars in Harvard Law’s animal law program are working to show the human side of wildlife protections.

    Houses and city skyscrapers on back of whale.
  • Attorney appears confident admissions case ruling will favor Harvard

    Attorney William F. Lee ’72 stood outside Boston’s Moakley U.S. Courthouse Friday and appeared confident a federal judge will rule that Harvard does not discriminate against Asian Americans in its admission practices.

    Seth Waxman and Bill Lee.
  • The election just ahead

    Here’s a close-up look at three areas where efforts are well along to understand and safeguard Tuesday’s important election.

    Harvard voter registration drive.
  • Brazil at the crossroads

    Scott Mainwaring, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor for Brazil Studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, sat down with the Gazette to talk about the election of far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil, and its impact in Latin America.

    Bolsonaro campaign rally in Rio de Janeiro.
  • ‘We are not looking as good as we did a few years ago’

    Mahzarin Banaji speaks with the Gazette about the roots of prejudice, about public perceptions that it is more acceptable today, and about the relationship of traditional biases to political divisions.

    Tree of Life Synagogue memorial.
  • Mothers of stillborns face prison in El Salvador

    Shortly after passing a total abortion ban in 1997, El Salvador became the first Latin American nation to incarcerate women who suffered stillbirths and other obstetrical emergencies for the crime of homicide. Sociologist Jocelyn Viterna analyzes the cultural dynamics that transformed a “pro-life” movement into a political system that revoked women’s rights.

    The resident of this house was sentenced to 40 years in prison for aggravated homicide after she miscarried
  • Probing the secrets of Sardis

    Harvard researchers explain the importance and findings from the long-running archaeological dig at Sardis in western Turkey.

    Sardis.
  • New thinking for Germany

    In an interview, a former high-ranking German official and Harvard fellow suggests his country would benefit from new thinking and policies.

    Sigmar Gabriel.
  • Du Bois as eminent sociologist

    As a sociologist, W.E.B. Du Bois expanded his field in major ways, often without credit or recognition, a researcher says in address.

    W.E.B. Du Bois, 1949.
  • ‘Network Propaganda’ explored

    “Network Propaganda,” which is based on a three-year study, examines American politics and the media ecosystem surrounding the 2016 presidential election.

    Book cover
  • Giving Du Bois his due

    Dean Lawrence Bobo, W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences, discusses the vast intellectual legacy of Du Bois and how the field of sociology has finally begun to reconsider his rightful place in the discipline’s history books.

    W.E.B Du Bois.
  • Finding their place in the world

    To kick off Worldwide Week at Harvard, students share stories of trips abroad that changed their career choices and their lives.

  • Admissions lawsuit enters second week

    Harvard officials continue to take the stand in the second week of a trial in U.S. Federal District Court. The case challenges the University’s admissions process and the right to consider race as one factor among many when considering applicants for admission as discriminatory to Asian American applicants.

    Harvard University
  • Uncovering the economics of foot-binding

    A recent study is suggesting that the real underpinnings of foot-binding may have been economic.

    Melissa Brown
  • Judges and their toughest cases

    At Harvard Law School Library, a panel drew lessons from a new book containing firsthand accounts of the some of the hardest cases in judges’ careers.

    Charles Fried.
  • A minority turns on the light

    In an interview, Alejandro de la Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, professor of African and African American studies, and director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute, talks about his organization and the emerging Afro-Latin American social movement.

    Alejandro de la Fuente.