Diplomacy and International Politics

Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni activist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, served as a Fisher Family Fellow with Harvard’s Future of Diplomacy Project. An outspoken and passionate advocate for human rights, she was critical of the inaction of international institutions and developed nations in response to rights violations in the Middle East.

The fall of Aleppo is a human catastrophe. It’s also a demonstration of the perils of choosing the middle course in a military conflict. Sometimes it’s possible to talk and fight at the same time. But in Syria, the U.S. decision to pursue a dual-track, halfway approach made the mayhem worse.

Excerpt from a November 14 installment of the “Inside the Middle East" Q&A Series, with Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni Activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, on women's role in Yemen's 2011 Revolution (of which she was a leading voice) and her hopes for the future of Yemen amidst the mixed results of the Arab Spring.

The election of Donald Trump has fueled an intense struggle within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the future disposition of the West Bank that Israel has occupied for nearly fifty years.

The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander offered his views on European security in a discussion moderated by FDP Executive Director Cathryn Cluver.

Putin and his government seek respect, stability from next U.S. administration, panel says.

As part of the India and South Asia Program’s annual speaker series, Ambassador MaleehaLodhi, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the United Nations discussed her country’s regional agenda.

Finance Minister of Ukraine and HKS alumna, Natalie A. Jaresko MPP 1989, participated in a conversation with Future of Diplomacy Project Faculty Director R. Nicholas Burns titled “Ukraine: Making Change Happen” on September 23. Minister Jaresko commented on the current state of economic reforms and debt restructuring in Ukraine, pairing her incisive analysis with descriptions of personal experiences working at a high-level in governments in both the US and Ukraine.

Countering this trend of violent extremism was the core theme of the fourth biannual PeaceGame that took place in Washington D.C. on June 2 and 3. Co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Foreign Policy Group, which publishes Foreign Policy magazine, the event tackled questions about the growing challenges of radicalization, recruitment, and foreign fighters who return to their home countries after fighting with militant groups abroad.

Belfer Center Director Graham Allison and Center Senior Fellow Farah Pandith took part in PeaceGame.