Election 2012: The World Votes

France, First Round 4/22/12 According to recent polling, incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is currently trailing Socialist nominee François Hollande while barely edging the unelectable nationalist Marine Le Pen. Sarkozy’s attempt to remedy this sore situation by calling in German Chancellor Angela Merkel will likely accomplish nothing, except for recalling memories of unpopular austerity measures. Though such … Read more

Bye, Bye Miss American Pie: America’s Food Culture

Any attempt to define American food culture leads, inevitably, to a realization that no singular, overarching food culture exists in America.  Harvard professor Joyce Chaplin, who teaches a course on American food history, explains, “One of the big points about American food culture is that there isn’t one.”  Chaplin is not indicating that America has … Read more

You Are What You Eat

Dear Readers, Given that I proposed a food issue more than two years ago, it is my great pleasure to finally present to you the Politics of Food.  While the culinary and gastronomic—the world of foie gras and Big Macs—might seem out of the norm for the Harvard Political Review, this cover in fact epitomizes … Read more

Striking a Balance in South Sudan

Early July last year, the world clamoured to celebrate the birth of South Sudan after a protracted and bloody conflict with its northern counterpart, Sudan. Despite wide coverage in international media, the referendum that established the world’s 193rd nation did little to address the most pressing sources of conflict. As South Sudan’s independence approaches its … Read more