Over the last century, the United States has always played an important role in East Asia. Military aid and political assistance to Japan and Korea to rebuild following World War II, and to Taiwan to balance the power of the People’s Republic of China, gained the United States a foot in regional geopolitics. The US … Read more
We asked some of HPR’s brightest minds what they thought about Israel’s situation a few months after the revolutions of the Arab Spring. Here are their responses: Jacob Drucker ’14 – Contributing Writer The Arab Spring is a disaster for Israel. As regimes topple and others are finally forced to listen to their people, anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment … Read more
The man of a thousand orthographies is dead. Not surprisingly, the political-cultural commentariat has been abuzz with lurid stories of Qaddafi’s last minutes in Sirte – raising, albeit more graphically, the same litany of hackneyed questions that came with the killing of Osama bin Laden. This is a complete waste of time: the Libyan leader … Read more
It’s been ten years since a major education bill passed Congress in the form of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This month, the Senate has the opportunity to pass a carefully crafted bill negotiated by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-ID) that would revamp NCLB and provide a new foundation … Read more
Shortly after nine Friday evening, when Yo-Yo Ma finished leading a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday and Drew Faust announced that the cake had been cut, I made the mistake of checking Facebook on my smartphone. To my dismay, but not my surprise, I read statuses from a number of Harvard students complaining about some … Read more
Beyond the debt, the rallies, and the latest Republican remarks, one may have noticed two quieter developments in Eastern Africa recently. In the course of the past week, two military interventions have emerged in this region. One originates in the United States, where 100 military advisers were just deployed to Uganda for the purpose of … Read more
The HPR reports on the CNN Republican primary debate in Las Vegas. 8:02 Hey all! Sarah here with Florence, Alex, and Jay for another GOP debate liveblog! 8:02 Ron Paul is the “champion of liberty.” Because all of the others are tyrants. 8:11 Question about a sales tax directed to Bachmann, she opposes any new … Read more
In the context of the Arab Spring, issues of minority rights in the Middle East have become increasingly relevant. The challenge of creating a pluralistic democracy that recognizes and respects the rights of all religious, ethnic, and cultural groups is substantial in countries with a long history of having systematically abused those rights. Recently, the … Read more
12:04 Benjamin Zhou (BZ) here. We are at Harvard Law School, preparing to blog on a session led by representative Barney Frank discussing federal drug policy at the American Constitution Society. Specifically, Mr. Frank will be discussing his opposition to federal bans on marijuana. Mr. Frank, who has served in Congress since 1980, has had … Read more
A recent excursion to downtown Boston provided me an opportunity “in the field” to test Corrine Curcie’s hypothesis that the Occupy movement and the supporters of Congressman Ron Paul have more in common than meets the eye. On Saturday afternoon I noticed a sizable parade of Occupy protestors walking through Boston’s Downtown Crossing. The majority … Read more