International Relations & Security
At HKS, South Korea’s president talks freedom, nuclear weapons, and K-pop soft power
In a major policy speech at Harvard Kennedy School, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol traced the global arc of freedom from the American Revolution through to South Korea’s current campaign to protect digital democracy across the world. But he also recognized the limits of government influence in this struggle for democratic freedoms. He noted that soft power derives not from governments but from a nation’s cultural strength—for South Korea in the form of K-pop and movies that are winning international acclaim. Near the end of a six-day trip to the United States to mark the 70th year of the U.S.-South Korean alliance, Yoon addressed issues including nuclear weapons and his nation’s strained relations with China and Japan. He spoke to more than 500 people on Friday afternoon at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. Moderator Joseph Nye, a University Professor, emeritus, and former dean of HKS who developed the concept of “soft power,” said Yoon’s response on that question was “a perfect answer. You would get an A at the Kennedy School.” | | | |
WHAT WE'RE HEARING
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If shaming alone were an effective tool for reducing drug prices, however, insulin would have become cheaper long ago. Clearly there were other, more important factors driving the recent price cuts.” | |
—HKS Professor Leemore Dafny, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine | | | | |
ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
Harvard’s Climate Action Week to feature global environment and energy policy challenges
The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, a new Harvard-wide initiative, holds its signature launch event—Harvard Climate Action Week—starting Monday, May 8, with a blend of virtual and in-person gatherings. The Kennedy School, long a hub for environment and energy policy research, is hosting two of the week’s events. The HKS-based Center for International Development will host its flagship Global Empowerment Meeting on Wednesday and Thursday with a focus on the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries who are at the frontlines of the climate crisis. During the conference, CID will launch a “Climate Incubation Fund" in partnership with Harvard Radcliffe Institute to catalyze new collaborations between researchers and practitioners. Also Wednesday, HKS Senior Lecturer Henry Lee will host a conversation with alum Nat Keohane PhD 2001, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and an Obama White House veteran, about putting climate policy in action to get on track for net-zero emissions by 2050. | | | |
DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Legislator Pearson ponders gun violence, democracy, and disagreement
In April, the Republican-led Tennessee State House voted to expel Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones, two Black Democratic members of the House, for speaking out on the House floor as part of a gun control protest following a school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead. A third member, Gloria Johnson, escaped expulsion by one vote. A week later both Pearson and Jones were reinstated. HKS Professor Archon Fung, director of the School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, talked with Pearson ahead of his appearance at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on April 26. Pearson reflects on gun violence, democracy, and listening to divergent views on policy choices. | | | |
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
Associate Professor Julia Minson assesses the Navalny documentary and Russia’s invasion of her homeland, Ukraine | | | | | |
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & DATA
Big data and machine learning can usher in a new era of policymaking
The increasing availability of data, and the development of algorithms capable of making sense of that data, are hugely important to the creation of better public policy. The “potential impact on public lives is beyond limits,” says Harvard Kennedy School Associate Professor of Public Policy Soroush Saghafian in a new Q&A. Saghafian, whose expertise includes state-of-the-art methods in machine learning and big data, is the founder and director of the Public Impact Analytics Science Lab (PIAS Lab), based at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, which is devoted to advancing and applying the science of analytics for solving societal problems that can have public impact. Working with hospitals, public agencies in the United States and abroad, as well as private firms and startups, Saghafian has developed tools that have “enabled us to find the best ways to save lives, improve the quality of care delivered to patients, decrease healthcare expenditures, reduce existing inequalities, design superior policies, and make better use of technological advancements such as mobile health, smart devices, and telemedicine, among others.” | | | |
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