For all the calls for change in U.S. politics, the most likely scenario for the 2016 presidential election presents two familiar family names: Clinton vs. Bush. For a country supposedly based on meritocracy, this is a curious turn of events.  It is also bewildering how no one questions the legitimacy of this postulation as nepotism.  […]

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, discusses the challenges to providing humanitarian assistance in Syria, the action (and inaction) of the UN Security Council in the crisis, and the politicization of aid. You can watch the interview, conducted by Jennifer Quigley-Jones, […]

We came to policy school to do more and to do better. We gravitated to Harvard Kennedy School, in part, because of its explicit mission to “train exceptional public leaders and generate the ideas that provide solutions to our most challenging public problems.” As aspiring policy leaders, we recognized that our ability to diagnose and […]

What did you do before you came to the Kennedy School? I have taken a rather indirect path to the Kennedy School. Unlike many of my more focused classmates, I spent my youth “playing.” Not much of that story would be appropriate for a family publication like the Citizen! While many of you are aware of the fact that I spent […]

What did you do before you came to the Kennedy School? I am a serial entrepreneur, having founded and co-founded four technology startups across multiple industries. My latest company is called Oh My Green! (www.ohmygreen.com), a purveyor of taste-tested, healthy, organic, and non-GMO snacks for individuals, universities, and corporations. We tend to work with and […]

By Tommy Tobin Now that the winter has finally departed and the sun shines again on the Kennedy School, the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) has announced its upcoming 2014/2015 season. This playhouse brings world premiere theatre to Cambridge just a few minutes from our campus. Theatre at the A.R.T. and its second stage, The Oberon, […]

By Simon R. Bone The Shorenstein Center which celebrated its 25th year in 2011 is not only one of the main research centers at the Harvard Kennedy School but also a world renowned focus for the intersection of media, politics and public policy both in theory and practice. In addition to the Institute of Politics […]

By Jieun Baek Let’s be honest. KSSG probably has not been top of mind for most of you, and you’re probably wondering what in the world this body of 34 elected HKS students do. At the beginning of the year, 34 of your classmates asked what they could do to serve you, and ran for […]

By Tommy Tobin This article began as a personal journey and ended up being a mystery through time. On an unassuming Kennedy School afternoon, I happened to cross from Littauer to Belfer on the ground floor. As I looked up, a sign greeted my gaze with the enigmatic line, “Thank You for Using the Ground […]

By Tim Purinton With compelling rhetoric and a stinging frontal attack, John Kerry is taking a deep plunge into environmental issues and in the process redefining the role of Secretary of State.  While many squabble over his diplomacy deliverables, Kerry is making a definitive case that the most powerful environmentalist in President Obama’s inner circle […]

By Nathan Finney I can hear my heart in my ears, blocking out anything but the swoosh-swoosh, swoosh-swoosh. My ears pop with every breath. My shirt clings to me as it drips with perspiration, weighing down my exhausted body. Preoccupied with my pain and fatigue, I don’t hear the sound. People around me scurry in […]

By Varun Bhandari Graduation is one of the key inflection points in our journey towards adulthood. For many of us, this could be our last time spent in an academic environment. It is a time for reflection about the experience we shared, and the journey ahead. I remember so clearly the first week we spent […]