Economics & Global Affairs

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook discusses the international implications of changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act as well as the revelations of the Panama Papers with respect to international money laundering and G-7/G-20 measures to counter macro-economic inefficiencies.

Excerpt from an October 16 installment of the “Inside the Middle East" Q&A Series, with Minister Hedi Larbi, Former Minister of Economic Infrastructure and Sustainable Development and Middle East Initiative Fall 2015 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar, on the role of International Monetary Institutions such as the World Bank and IMF in encouraging and implementing economic reforms during the political transition in Tunisia.

The defining question about global order for this generation is whether China and the United States can escape Thucydides’s Trap. The Greek historian’s metaphor reminds us of the attendant dangers when a rising power rivals a ruling power—as Athens challenged Sparta in ancient Greece, or as Germany did Britain a century ago. Most such contests have ended badly, often for both nations, a team of mine at the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has concluded after analyzing the historical record. In 12 of 16 cases over the past 500 years, the result was war. When the parties avoided war, it required huge, painful adjustments in attitudes and actions on the part not just of the challenger but also the challenged.

An audio recording of a panel discussion on October 24 with Jalloul Ayed, Jihad Az'our and Samir Huliheh, moderated by HKS Professor Ishac Diwan.

An audio recording of Diana Buttu's lecture at Harvard Kennedy School on October 18, 2012.

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, discussed the future of the Euro and Europe's scorecard in the financial crisis during his visit to the Harvard Kennedy School in October.

A new study by Belfer Center Geopolitics of Energy researcher Leonardo Maugeri finds that oil production capacity is surging in the United States and several other countries at such a fast pace that global oil output capacity is likely to grow by nearly 20 percent by 2020.  This could prompt a plunge or even a collapse in oil prices.  The findings by Maugeri, a former oil industry executive who is now a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, are based on an original field-by-field analysis of the world’s major oil formations and exploration projects.