North America

The search for silver linings to the coronavirus pandemic has come up woefully short. But one hopeful — and much talked of — prospect is that the disruption will accelerate the global shift to a more sustainable energy future.

CAMBRIDGE, MA –The Environment and Natural Resources Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs announced today that Clean Water for Carolina Kids is the winner of the 2020 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership. The partnership of RTI International, NC Child, the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and the North Carolina Division of Public Health protects children and infants from exposure to lead from drinking water at child care centers and schools.

Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor at Columbia University, shared his thoughts on carbon pricing, the post-pandemic economic recovery, and green economy transition during a virtual forum on September 8 sponsored by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, and hosted by Robert Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School.

We are pleased to announce that Spanish diplomat José Luis Rodríguez de Colmenares has been appointed the Rafael del Pino-Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship for the 2020-21 academic year.

The closer the president gets to election day, the bigger the threat he poses to U.S. democracy.

As conventional wisdom goes, experts tend to rank the U.S ahead of China, U.K., Iran, North Korea, Russia, in terms of how strong it is when it comes to cyberspace. But a new study from Harvard University’s Belfer Center shows that China has closed the gap on the U.S. in three key categories: surveillance, cyber defense, and its efforts to build up its commercial cyber sector.

“A lot of people, Americans in particular, will think that the U.S., the U.K., France, Israel are more advanced than China when it comes to cyber power,” Eric Rosenbach, the Co-Director of Harvard’s Belfer Center, told CyberScoop. “Our study shows it’s just not the case and that China is very sophisticated and almost at a peer level with the U.S.”

Juliette Kayyem details why the end of summer is a bitter reminder: America's coronavirus ordeal won’t end when 2020 does.

Robert Stavins, the A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development and Director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program speaks with Vicky Bailey, former commissioner of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and former president and CEO of PSI Energy Inc. The discussion ranges from energy and climate change policy to social and economic justice.

Nationalistic U.S. policies also complicate America’s efforts to mobilize its partners to push back together against China, and they risk alienating individuals of Chinese heritage who contribute to the dynamism of the American economy. In short: The U.S. government should not try to out-China China.

Joseph Nye poses the following question: Will Donald Trump's presidency mark a major turning point in world history, or was it a minor historical accident? Trump's electoral appeal may turn on domestic politics, but his effect on world politics could be transformational, particularly if he gains a second term.