341 Past Events

JFK Jr Forum - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

WATCH: Hamas and Israel: What happened, what does it mean, and what's next?

Fri., Oct. 13, 2023 | 4:00pm - 5:15pm

Harvard Kennedy School - Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum

Professor Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland, Professor Shai Feldman of Brandeis, and Former Ambassador to Israel and Syria Edward Djerejian will discuss the ongoing events in Israel/Palestine with MEI Faculty Chair Professor Tarek Masoud.

JFK Jr Forum - Open to the Public

Nuclear Threats: Putin and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Mon., Oct. 17, 2022 | 6:00pm

Harvard Kennedy School - Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum

As Ukraine’s military advances and Putin threatens to conduct nuclear strikes, President Biden said last week: “For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if in fact things continue down the path they'd been going.”

Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School and granddaughter of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, David Ignatius, foreign affairs columnist at The Washington Post, and Graham Allison (AB '62 PhD '68), Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, will review lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis that illuminate the challenges the US now faces and can inform the choices President Biden is now considering.

JFK Jr Forum - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

CANCELLED: A Conversation with the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba

Fri., Sep. 23, 2022 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Harvard Kennedy School - Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum

EVENT CANCELLED

Please join the Institute of Politics, the Future of Diplomacy Project, and Harvard Kennedy School’s Ukraine Caucus in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum for a conversation with Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, moderated by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky (PhD '91), a Senior Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project. Seven months into Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine faces multiple and ever-evolving diplomatic and security challenges to protect its territorial integrity. Minister Kuleba will discuss the conditions on the ground, the country’s current humanitarian and food security situation, the critical role of the U.S. and its European allies in supporting Ukraine’s resistance efforts, and the global implications of this conflict.

This event is co-sponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, and the Harvard Kennedy School Ukraine Caucus.

Please register by 12:00 PM ET on Friday, September 23 if you would like the possibility of attending this event in-person. Registrants will be notified by 5:00 PM ET that day if a seat is available for them in the venue. If a seat is not available, registrants can stream the event live via our social media channels.

JFK Jr Forum - Open to the Public

Ukraine, China, and the US: Can War be Avoided?

Wed., Mar. 30, 2022 | 7:30pm

Online

As China’s role in supporting Russia in its brutal invasion of Ukraine becomes clearer, and fears about Taiwan’s future become more urgent, the question becomes whether war between the US and China is avoidable. Kevin Rudd’s new book, The Avoidable War, answers: yes. Join us in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum as we host The Hon. Kevin Rudd, 26th Prime Minister of Australia, in a conversation on the future of the US-China relationship moderated by Graham Allison (AB '62 PhD '68), Douglas Dillon Professor of Government.

JFK Jr Forum - Open to the Public

The Russian War on Ukraine: A Conversation with Ash Carter

Wed., Mar. 2, 2022 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Harvard Kennedy School - Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum

Join us in the JFK Jr. Forum on Wednesday, March 2, at 6:00 PM ET for a conversation with former US Secretary of Defense and Belfer Center Director Ash Carter. Secretary Carter will offer his analysis of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian government before taking questions from the audience.

IOP Forum Poster

IOP

JFK Jr Forum - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

The Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Can Diplomacy and Democracy Prevail?

Wed., Feb. 9, 2022 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia are rising quickly. The border crisis raises the questions: Does a democratically governed country have the right to exist? What role does the rest of the world play in supporting that right? And what important international conflicts and diplomatic efforts aren’t we talking about with the global spotlight on Eastern Europe? 

To help us frame the ongoing confrontation, the JFK Jr. Forum is honored to host former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor (HKS ‘77), Vice President, Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace, for a conversation on the unfolding conflict and America’s role in defending democracy abroad. Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, Senior Fellow of the “Future of Diplomacy Project” at the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs and former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, will moderate the conversation.

Please click here to RSVP.

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

JFK Jr Forum - Open to the Public

The Decisive Decade for Climate Action

Thu., Apr. 22, 2021 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Online

Speaker: Christiana Figueres, Co-founder of Global Optimism.

Moderator: Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy, HKS

Please join us on Earth Day 2021 when international leader on climate change and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres will deliver this year's  Robert S. McNamara Lecture on War and Peace.

Please register in advance for this event here.

The Institute of Politics hosts Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

The Harvard Institute of Politics

JFK Jr Forum - Open to the Public

A Celebration of International Women’s Day with Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

Mon., Mar. 8, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:00am

Online

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2021, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan joins the Center for International Development, MEI, Women and Public Policy Program, and the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School to discuss women’s empowerment, cross-cultural dialogue, and innovative solutions to global challenges. The conversation will be moderated by Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard.

David Beasley

WFP

JFK Jr Forum - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Food as a Pathway to Peace: World Food Programme’s David Beasley, 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Wed., Feb. 24, 2021 | 1:00pm

Online

Earlier this month, Executive Director of the World Food Programme David Beasley outlined the challenges humanitarians face in building and sustaining peace, stating: “While achieving peace is difficult, sustaining peace is even harder. At a time when 270 million people are on the brink of starvation, with conflict a major cause compounded by climate extremes and exacerbated by COVID, this task has never been more difficult or urgent.”

The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize recipient World Food Programme Executive Director and IOP Resident Fellow S’99 David Beasley and Harvard Kennedy School Lecturer Janina Matuszeski will reflect on the challenges and dilemmas at the frontlines of humanitarianism and peacebuilding while also exploring collective solutions to the global famine we are facing. Join this conversation about combatting hunger across the globe and how food aid supports a pathway to a more stable and peaceful future.

This event is co-sponsored with HKS Institute of Politics, HKS Center for Public Leadership, and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

Please register for this event here