Diplomacy and International Politics

In a conversation with Professor Nicholas Burns, Ban Ki-Moon, who served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to December 2016, touches upon his transition from the diplomatic to the academic world, UN efforts to confront climate change under his leadership, and reconciling political realities with the achievement of long-term, global aims.

An audio recording of a talk by Mouin Rabbani, Former Head of Political Affairs, Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria.

An audio recording of a book talk by Ibrahim Fraihat, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution Doha Center and Affiliate Scholar, Georgetown University in Qatar, on his most recent book Unfinished Revolutions from Yale University Press.

An audio recording of a public talk by Rami Khouri, MEI Non-Resident Senior Fellow; Senior Fellow, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy, American University of Beirut; Syndicated Columnist.

Audio recordings from MEI's Fall 2015 Study Group Rewriting the Arab Social Contract: Toward Inclusive Development and Politics in the Arab World, with former Tunisian Minister of Economic Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Hedi Larbi.

In a public address hosted by the Future of Diplomacy Project, UN Special Envoy to Syria, Ambassador Staffan de Mistura, spoke to a full audience of Harvard Kennedy School students, faculty, and experts on the use of creativity and innovation in crisis response. The event, which took place on April 29, was moderated by the program's Faculty Director, R. Nicholas Burns.

An audio recording from Ishac Diwan, Distinguished Chair in Arab World Studies at Paris Sciences et Lettres, Visiting Researcher at Universite Dauphine and Paris School of Economics, and MEI Research Affiliate.

On November 19, 2014 at MEI, Professor Diwan presented his findings from analysis of the sixth wave of the World Values Survey, focusing on the Arab World and specifically on Arab Youth.

Former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department and current Senior Adviser on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations, Jake Sullivan, delivered an address entitled "Headlines and Trendlines - the Obama Administration's Foreign Policy" and led a discussion with the Future of Diplomacy Faculty Director, R. Nicholas Burns, experts, students, and fellows on October 30. He examined President Obama's current foreign policy strategy and priorities as well as expectations for the remaining two years of the Obama presidency.

A conversation with Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General, hosted by Ambassador Nicholas Burns.

On Wednesday, September 11, Professor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani (the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at the Middle East Initiative) led the introductory seminar to the fall 2013 seminar series. This seminar aimed to illuminate the politics and economics of these choices, as well as the experience of actual transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.