Vice-President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Israel to jump-start peace talks seemed like good news, until he was met with an announcement from Israel’s Interior Ministry that it had authorized the construction of another 1,600 homes in occupied East Jerusalem. In my opinion, this highlights an incredible paradox of American foreign policy: how America’s unquestioning support for the state of ... Read More
Following Kramer’s comments the other day, an interesting conversation has arisen that compares Kramer’s proposal to end pre-natal subsidies with China’s one child policy. The reason for this debate originates in the UN’s definition of genocide, as found in Article 2 of the Convention on the Preventment and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: “In the present Convention, genocide means any ... Read More
On February 3, Martin Kramer, visiting scholar at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center, gave a six-minute speech at the annual Herzliya Conference in Herzliya, Israel (discussed by Jeremy below). In that short amount he time, he provided a clear call for the West to curb Gaza’s exploding population by ending pro-natal subsidies for Gazans: “Aging populations reject radical agendas, and the Middle East ... Read More
On December 23rd, 2009, Harvard Law student Hebah M. Ismail’s ’06 landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport with the intention of joining Clinical Instructor and Global Advocacy Fellow Ahmad Amara, as well as another fellow student, for research on land disputes between the Israeli government and Bedouin communities in the Negev desert. At airport security, Ismail was interrogated for ... Read More
Ahmadinejad’s recent announcement that Iran will proceed to weapons-grade enrichment of uranium has brought much of the Western world to its senses about talking the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism into giving up its nuclear quest. On Obama’s recent call for sanctions, the BBC reports (emphasis mine): The president sounded not unlike his predecessor George W Bush, who worked ... Read More
(Other than “what’s going to happen to Conan?”) Following revelations that the underwear bomber was fitted in Yemen, everyone is (or should be) asking: what is going on over there? The answer turns out to be… quite a bit. So Yemen is finally front and center on the radar for the U.S. counterterrorism effort. Not to pat ourselves on the ... Read More
Turning from the coca fields to the cocaine market While anti-drug policy rarely makes headlines in American politics today, the issue dominates politics in Colombia. The South American country is a hotbed for cultivation of the coca plant, the key ingredient in cocaine production. As of 2007, the Office of National Drug Policy reported that 167,000 hectares of the country’s ... Read More
How the debate over crack cocaine sentencing has moved beyond race In 1986, amid America’s crack epidemic and the associated violence in inner cities, Congress decided to punish possession of five grams of crack as harshly as it punishes possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. Known as the 100:1 disparity, this law has inundated prisons with low-level crack dealers, ... Read More
And what it may mean for the U.S. strategic dilemma With fraud-ridden elections, a growing insurgency, and expanding Taliban influence, Afghanistan is at its most critical crossroads since the overthrow of the fundamentalist regime eight years ago. A report leaked last month revealed that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, has requested 40,000 ... Read More
Reforming foreign aid at home In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, President George W. Bush made a sweeping commitment to global economic development. In early 2002, he declared, “We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror. We fight against poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to human dignity.” Development was to be a vital ... Read More
A closer look at shifting power dynamics in Iran The election crisis in Iran this summer riveted the world with scenes of dramatic demonstrations and a brutal crackdown that left hundreds dead. But the aftermath of the elections marked a subtle shift in the regime’s power structure: the ascent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a central political ... Read More
Tom Ridge on the creation and evolution of the Department of Homeland Security and the future of the Republican Party. Tom Ridge is the first Secretary of Homeland Security. He is a former Representative and Governor of Pennsylvania. He was very visible in the 2008 Presidential Race as an aide to Senator John McCain. Harvard Political Review: Can you describe ... Read More
Eric Greitens on rebuilding after Katrina and helping veterans continue to serve at home Greitens is the volunteer Chairman and CEO of The Mission Continues and a U.S. Navy SEAL Officer. He recently wrote a book about his humanitarian work abroad called Strength and Compassion. HPR: You have worked in many different sectors from military to education. In your work ... Read More
Have the FARC finally met their match? A recent string of defeats for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Latin America’s oldest, largest, and most dangerous rebel group, signals perhaps the best chance Colombia has had for peace in 44 years of armed struggle. During much of the 1990s, a drug-fueled civil war between left-wing rebels, right-wing paramilitaries, and ... Read More
