PolicyCast

Brent Colburn, a Fall 2015 Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, discusses the differences between campaigning and governing, drawing on his experiences at both the US Department of Defense and on President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign to compare and contrast. He goes on to explain how the Department of Defense integrates public affairs into its decision making, how government agencies...

David Ensor, former director of Voice of America and current Fall 2015 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Shorenstein Center, explains why Voice Of America is a key instrument in the projection of US soft power and how the organization’s commitment to objective journalism, as opposed to being an advocate for US policies, is vital to its success.

Professor Robert Stavins, Director of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements out of the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, explains why the COP21 in Paris is a critical step in addressing anthropogenic global climate change. He discusses the history of past climate summits and lays out both his markers for success and potential impediments to a deal. More from Professor Stavins and other Kennedy S...

Marie Sanz, former bureau chief for the AFP in Lima, Peru and a Fall 2015 Joan Shorenstein fellow at the Shorenstein Center, describes how the announcement of normalized relations between the US and Cuba took the world – and the press, in particular – by surprise. She explains how talks between the two countries unfolded with help from Pope Francis, and discusses both the possibilities and obstacl...

Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, Research Director at the Harvard FXB Center for Health & Human Rights, discusses the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe and how the recent terrorist attacks in Paris might reshape policy regarding the resettlement of Syrian refugees in both Europe and the United States.

Bob Schieffer, former host of CBS News’s Face the Nation and current Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at the Shorenstein Center, explains the enduring popularity of the Sunday morning political talk show, offers his take on what he calls “the most different” presidential campaign in his long memory, and recounts some of his favorite stories from the campaign trail. 

HKS Adjunct Lecturer Ronald Ferguson emphasizes the importance of looking beyond standardized test results and measuring students’ sense of agency - the belief that they have the capacity to succeed - in order to address lingering achievement gaps.

HKS Associate Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott’s quantitative analysis of three seemingly disparate topics shows the power of protests to change policy, the power of propaganda to induce violence and the power of religion to create happiness despite reducing GDP. You can read more on Professor Yanagizawa-Drott’s research on the HKS Faculty Research Connection website: https://research.hks.harvard....

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust discusses what drew her to the study of history; her role as a student activist in the civil rights movement in Selma; how her experience as an activist shapes her leadership now; her advice to young people who are trying to balance public service and career goals; and how universities can help students make those choices.

HKS Professor John Ruggie, who has twice served in senior roles at the United Nations, describes how the UN was able to leverage its convening power to create an unprecedented set of "Guiding Principles" for corporate responsibility on human rights issues. He also speaks to the growing role international sporting organizations like FIFA and the Olympics will need to play in bolstering hu...

Peiran Wei, a 2015 China and Globalization Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and former Bloomberg reporter, describes his country as "switching gears" – in its economy, its politics, and its culture. Wei discusses attitudes towards the rising billionaire class in China, the impact of China’s capital outflow around the globe, and the importance of social stability to the...

Christopher Herbert, managing director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, explains whether there’s reason for concern about the state of the US housing market, which has been beset by falling homeownership rates, rising rents, stalling incomes and demographic shifts that threaten to exacerbate trends towards inequality. If you’d like to learn more, you can read the 2015 State of the Na...

HKS Professor Carmen Reinhart details the lessons we can learn from two centuries of data on how countries have historically dealt with debt problems. She discusses the long menu of debt relief options that are often overlooked, criticizes the disparity between how debt problems are addressed in emerging markets and advanced economies, and applies her findings to the situations in Greece and Puert...

Retired US Army Gen. David Petraeus, a non-resident senior fellow at the Belfer Center, explains why he believes a combination of four technological revolutions will lead to a renewed era of American power. Not just for the United States, but for Canada and Mexico, too. He details the steps he believes the United States must take to take advantage of its position at the head of each technological...

Gary Samore, President Obama’s former principal advisor on arms control and nuclear proliferation who currently serves as the Director for Research at the Belfer Center, gives his take on the agreement struck between Iran and a group of world powers referred to as the P5+1 to restrict and monitor Iran’s nuclear research and development program. He explains why he supports the pact, what concession...

Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and professor of the practice of theatre at Harvard, explains why the arts are critical to the shaping of public policy. Paulus offers examples of how artistic works have engaged audiences to pursue change, and explores the responsibility artists have to account for the results of their works.

Nick Sinai, formerly a U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House and currently a Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy fellow at the Shorenstein Center, describes in detail the effort the Obama administration has put into modernizing the federal government’s digital services, both by opening up data to public and private groups, as well as to individual citizens by creating comprehe...

Former Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa and the Middle East Institute’s Dr. Paul Salem discuss Tunisia’s relative success in establishing a stable democracy in the wake of the Arab Spring. Jomaa, who recently delivered an address at the JFK Jr. Forum, and Salem, who lead a seminar at the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative, go into detail about how Tunisia’s strong national identity, existin...

Former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a spring 2015 fellow at the Institute of Politics, recounts how she became interested in a career in politics and speaks about issues of sexism and LGBT rights both in New York and across the United States.

  Former NPR Kabul Correspondent and HKS alumnus Sean Carberry, here at HKS to lead a seminar at the Belfer Center's Future of Diplomacy Project as part of its South Asia Week, lays out the political situation in Afghanistan months after the official end of the war. He explains why Americans should still care about Afghanistan's stability, what difficulties the country’s new President Ashraf Ghani...

Republican strategist Matt Lira, a spring 2015 fellow at the Institute of Politics, discusses the early days of a presidential campaign, the importance of primaries, how campaign management eventually influences governance and what technologies will likely emerge as critical to 2016.

  Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen, currently in residence at the Kennedy School as an Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow, recounts the challenges she faced as a woman ascending the Finnish ranks of power. She also explains some of the factors behind Finland’s consistently high rankings in many quality of life metrics.

Former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a spring 2015 fellow at the Institute of Politics, recounts the legal journey that ultimately led to the US Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to strike down a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act - a major victory for the LGBT rights movement.

HKS Adjunct Lecturer Jay Rosengard, faculty chair of the Ash Center’s HKS Indonesia Program, breaks down the political climate in Indonesia, just months after the election of a new, potentially transformational president. He explains how Indonesia’s still-young democracy will be put to the test as the new president seeks to work with a parliament controlled by the opposition.

  Cyprus’ Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis describes his country’s slow emergence from a deep economic recession following a 2013 EU bail-in that came with significant austerity measures attached. He points out bright spots in the country’s traditional industries as well as the promise of building a new energy industry through offshore gas exploration. He also...