The Real World

Professor Stephen Walt on Israel, Japan, Mexico, and realism Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Rene Belfer Professsor of International Relations at Harvard University. He is also the co-author, with J.J. Mearsheimer, of The Israel Lobby. HARVARD POLITICAL REVIEW: Your blog is subtitled “A Realist in an Ideological Age.” When you say realist, what … Read more

Teaching the Teachers

Teach for America’s founder talks about education in America Wendy Kopp is the founder and president of Teach for America, the national non-profit teaching corps. She also serves as CEO of Teach for All, an organization that works to introduce Teach for America’s methods around the world. HARVARD POLITICAL REVIEW: What are your thoughts on … Read more

America’s Military in Flux

Journalist Thomas Ricks assesses America’s armed forces Tom Ricks is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of Fiasco, a New York Times best seller. His most recent book, The Gamble, explores the effect of the 2007 troop surge on the war in Iraq. HARVARD POLITICAL REVIEW: How did your views of the U.S. … Read more

Weighing In: The Great Tax Debate

The Great Tax Debate begins every year in the blogosphere around April 15th. On the line are normative claims, like whether and to what extent we should be distributing resources communally. But the facts are easy to get wrong too. So today I thought I’d lay out some factual correctives to Peyton’s exemplar of the … Read more

Robin Hood Strikes Again

For nearly half of American households this year, April 15 will be no different from any other day. AP’s Stephen Ohlemacher reported on Thursday that, according to the Tax Policy Center in Washington, about 47 percent of Americans will pay no federal income taxes for FY2009, either because their incomes were too low, or they … Read more

Weighing In: Are Interns Slaves?

In dueling editorials, two sets of Crimson editors opined today on the federal crack-down on unpaid internships. I’m with the pro-payment crowd, but I think that both the sides made the same conceptual error by assuming that this is a straightforward case of equality versus opportunity. The majority view was that, even though stricter regulation … Read more

The Doublespeak of Governor Bob McDonnell

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell decided to stir up some controversy when he declared April “Confederate History Month,” reviving a state tradition that his Democratic predecessors had ignored for the past eight years. Generally, I think our society has become too politically correct, and I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with having a Confederate History … Read more

Are Interns SLAVES?

No — that would be a tasteless joke. But they do perform a lot of work for free! As The New York Times explains in a piece that should have been, in retrospect, pretty obvious: Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say “If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a … Read more

Lead the HPR’s Summer Pilot Project

The HPR is looking for TWO PAID, PART-TIME EDITORS to lead a web-based project this summer. (Harvard undergrads only) The editors will lead a team of writers, graphic designers, web designers, and business staffers in putting together a special online edition of the Harvard Political Review in partnership with the Annual Report of the United … Read more

GOP Losing to Dems in Fundraising Battle?

So says the Washington Post. This is probably the worst news we’ve heard for the GOP since the revelations about the RNC-funded trip to a lesbian-themed bondage night club in LA. Or was it a bondage-themed lesbian night club? Speaking of which, how much of this fundraising shortfall can be attributed to Michael Steele’s gross mismanagement of … Read more