Harvard is America’s university. It was, and remains, our answer to Oxford, where students are taught a liberal, democratic, and distinctly American brand of education. In recent years, Harvard has pivoted into a more global role, drawing students from every corner of the world. These students, though, do not always stay behind. Increasingly, graduates leave … Read more
Jacob Cedarbaum’s first month as a Chicago public school science teacher was certainly unusual. He headed straight into the first Chicago teachers’ strike in over 25 years, which highlighted opposition to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s push to scale back anticipated pay raises, extend the school day, and tie standardized test scores more closely to teacher evaluations. … Read more
Michelle Rhee is a lightning rod. Gwen Samuels, a former Head Start teacher and current education activist in Connecticut, knows what it is like to stand too close. When Samuels partnered with Michelle Rhee in Connecticut, a previously civil debate about education policy quickly turned into all-out warfare. “People I didn’t even know existed started … Read more
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the culmination of a broader ‘pivot’ on trade policy that has at times brought President Obama into conflict with his supporters and key Democratic constituencies. Currently entering a delicate phase of negotiations, the TPP could usher in a new age of U.S. trade policy. Described by U.S. Trade Representative Ron … Read more
If you have ever wondered what a feminist is, Caitlin Moran has an answer for you. In her best-selling How to Be a Woman, which Slate called her “memoir-slash-manifesto,” Moran argues that feminism is practical, universal, and crucial for 21st century women. With stories from her own life, she presents a humorous and in-your-face diatribe … Read more
Robert Zoellick has served as President of the World Bank, Deputy Secretary of State, and U.S. Trade Representative. He is currently a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Harvard Political Review: You’re the head of Governor Romney’s national security team, and have spoken about how the World Bank can pressure Iran away from developing a … Read more
The Eurozone’s tumultuous struggle to extricate itself from its sovereign debt crisis has dominated international headlines since 2009. However, only recently has any substantive progress been made by policymakers. The combination of the European Central Bank becoming the effective lender of last resort for Eurozone members through its new bond-buying program, and the German Constitutional … Read more
On July 22, 2011, a car bomb detonated in central Oslo, killing eight people and injuring an additional 209. That same day, the island Utøya was hosting a youth summer camp for the Norwegian Labor Party. A few hours after the bombing, a man posing as a police officer opened fire on the camp’s participants, … Read more
For those who oppose big government on principle, the current American political climate is a perfect storm. Support for Congress remains around 10 percent, the Afghanistan war is increasingly unpopular, and Americans are becoming more distrustful of their own government. The Tea Party’s ascendancy in 2009 demonstrated grassroots support for fiscal conservatism, and soon after, … Read more
Last year, President Obama announced the ‘Pacific Pivot,’ a rebalancing of American international emphasis away from Europe and the Middle East and toward East Asia. In declaring this new foreign policy doctrine, President Obama addressed the Australian Parliament and revealed the deployment of an additional 2,500 U.S. troops in Australia. This symbolic measure established the … Read more