What’s wrong with Canada these days? I remember the good old days, when Canadians championed human rights reforms, pushed for the protection of freshwater, and engaged in all those pleasant international good deeds. In light of this history, Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol is startling. Since the Conservatives took power in 2006, they have … Read more
From my perch atop a cinderblock near the corner of a Department of Transportation building at midnight Thursday, it should have been obvious that the Boston Police Department would not attempt an eviction of the Occupy Boston encampment in Dewey Square. At least three hundred people were chanting slogans on the walkway that serves as … Read more
Christian minorities in the Middle East fear new regimes In early October of this year, 24 Egyptian demonstrators died in the country’s worst episode of violence since Mubarak’s fall in February. The clash between Coptic Christians and government forces highlights the religious diversity of region many assume to be monolithic. Copts took to the streets … Read more
The Antitrust Division strikes back “The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers…facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless services.” So declared Deputy Attorney General James Cole, bringing the Department of Justice (DOJ) into a national debate on government’s role in business. Previously, the Obama administration had proven relatively inactive in its enforcement of … Read more
Low revenues and high costs plunge states into crisis As America’s economic recovery crawls forward, its states suffer from depleted revenues and large spending commitments. Experts project between $30 billion and $40 billion in combined state budget deficits for fiscal year 2012. Though the federal government runs deficits during recessions to fund expansionary policies, many … Read more
The State of the Union has hindered the 112th Congress After Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives last November, they vowed to repeal major legislation passed by the previous Congress and satisfy the Tea Party, whose conservative votes and voices lifted them to victory. However, despite months of rancorous debate on topics ranging … Read more
Recruiting season comes every year at Harvard. In fact, I think it might come twice a year. Truth be told, I don’t really know when recruiting season is. There comes a day every autumn and/or spring when, strolling down Plympton Street at dusk, I see an army of well-dressed undergraduates hurrying past me into the … Read more
Diana Henriques is a senior financial writer at The New York Times. She has been a Pulitzer finalist and was granted the first interview with felon Bernie Madoff upon his incarceration. She has authored four books, including “The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and The Death of Trust.” Harvard Political Review: How did you first … Read more
China’s history of supporting authoritarian regimes—from Kim Jong Il’s North Korea to Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela—is well established and widely criticized. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has outlined a policy of “oppos[ing] interference in other countries’ internal affairs under the pretext of democracy and human rights,” including trade sanctions in the category of “interference.” Amidst the country’s astronomic rise … Read more
When I first opened The Art of Fielding, an American novel that happens to be about baseball (and that happens to have been written by a Harvard alum, Chad Harbach), it was 2 A.M. in the middle of a school week, during what Shakespeare might have called a “long, dark night of the soul,” if … Read more