In the last couple years, we at HPR have noticed a growing gender imbalance in the makeup of our staff. Of the 16 current members of the editorial board, only two are female. Among our new crop of writers, the divide is not much better: less than a third of the writers for the fall … Read more
Bob Woodward’s book, Obama’s War, hit shelves this week amidst turf wars in the White House between war advisors and political advisers. This is wholly appropriate. While the book paints Obama as a strategic war president, a man dedicated to closely considering all strategies before independently creating his own policy, the book’s main aftershock is to impress … Read more
The phrase “Moderate Republican” just sounds silly. Republicans aren’t supposed to be moderate. If they were, they wouldn’t be Republicans at all. To Republicans, moderateness is not just an embarrassing admission of weakness, it’s a sign of petty treason. If any of your GOP friends start leaning towards the center, intervene immediately; they are a … Read more
It was aggravating enough when Justice Breyer, appearing on Good Morning America two weeks ago, made comments that many took to mean that Koran burning is equivalent to “shouting fire in a crowded theater.” After all, the Supreme Court doesn’t officially convene until Monday, but the scandals have already begun. Only a few days later, … Read more
It’s not unusual for the world community to talk about the Israel-Palestinian conflict in exceptional terms. Regional scholar William Quandt calls it “the world’s most difficult conflict,” a sentiment echoed in the disproportionate hours spent covering it in international media. Every event in the conflict and the peace process seems to take on existential meaning: … Read more
Thomas Friedman, yesterday, in this Times column, found his rhetorical flourish yet lost his practical sensibility. In a fairly particularly common theme for him, Friedman praises the autocratic, oppressive Chinese government as efficient and resourceful, while decrying “our poll-driven, toxically partisan, cable-TV-addicted, money-corrupted political class”. Friedman goes on further to suggest that politics today in … Read more
Harvard University is a private institution with a private set of needs, among them financial needs and the ever-present need to remain true to its institutional identity. If you’re interested in the question of whether the Social Studies Degree Committee should create a research grant in Marty Peretz’s honor, then that’s where you have to start, with … Read more
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began this year claiming, “The United States seeks a safer, more prosperous, more democratic and more equitable world.” Her words reflect the State Department’s emphasis on cooperation and diplomacy as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. The 2011 foreign aid budget is nominally based on a “3D” approach to U.S. … Read more
The U.S. federal government is by far the largest single entity in the world. As of fiscal year 2009, its expenditures of $3.6 trillion exceeded those of the second and third biggest governments combined. This largely reflects the size of the American economy, itself the largest on the planet. Federal spending has grown by about … Read more
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began this year claiming, “The United States seeks a safer, more prosperous, more democratic and more equitable world.” Her words reflect the State Department’s emphasis on cooperation and diplomacy as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. The 2011 foreign aid budget is nominally based on a “3D” approach to U.S. … Read more