Asia & the Pacific

An excerpt from an interview with Fran Ulmer, Senior Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative, explains what we might expect from the transition to Norwegian leadership, as well as possible paths forward for the Arctic Council and Arctic governance more broadly. The interview was conducted by Belfer Center Communications and Outreach Specialist Elizabeth Hanlon. 

Nathaniel L. Moir argues that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 evokes a failure to learn the many lessons Bernard Fall sought to convey in critiquing American operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and as France sought to control Indochina in the 1950s. Among his contributions was Fall's demand that policy-makers recognize the primacy of political legitimacy over military force. 

We asked Fredrik Logevall, author of JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century (Random House, 2020), why he decided to write a biography of John F. Kennedy, what surprised him in his research, and whether he thinks Kennedy would have won the 2020 presidential election.

Twenty-four Harvard Kennedy School students recently returned from the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík—the world’s largest annual gathering on Arctic issues—where each presented her or his innovative and interdisciplinary solution to an Arctic challenge. These “Arctic Innovators” are part of Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative, which is co-led at the Belfer Center by John P. Holdren, Henry Lee, and Halla Logadóttir.

Across the Arctic, rapid climate change is taking its toll. Melting ice and sea level rise are threatening entire communities. Areas rich in oil and gas are opening up to exploration, but the economic benefits often do not reach Arctic populations. For many, life in the Arctic is becoming more difficult each day.