Juliette Kayyem
Lecturer in Public Policy
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-496-6743
Fax: 617-495-8963
Email: juliette.kayyem@gmail.com
March 14, 2013
"Conduct Unbecoming the Military"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"The military has a sexual assault problem....There is only one certain way to stop sexual abuse: Victims must feel that coming forward will be taken seriously within the military justice system, and assailants must feel that they will face consequences. But the military justice system isn't equipped to handle this problem, and the Pentagon must reform it for the thousands of women who have suffered under its negligence."
March 11, 2013
"Safety vs. Recovery after Disasters"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"March 11, 2011, was three distinct disasters. The earthquake and tsunami fell into the category of tragedies that are often unavoidable. But the nuclear accident requires a different analytical frame, and proponents of nuclear energy shouldn't be allowed to write off the Fukushima crisis as a natural disaster. Since the industrial revolution, there have always been industrial harms. As societies require more of technology, engineering, and transportation, there will be blips in the systems. What isn't inevitable, however, is that they happen again."
March 7, 2013
"Chavez Death Creates Risk, Opportunity"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"By eliminating the automatic refugee status granted to Cubans if they somehow reach US soil, we would stop tempting them to take to the seas in rickety boats and inner tubes on which many lose their lives. We would also put the whole world on equal footing, determining which refugees are allowed to stay not by whether we like (or don't like) their country's leadership, but whether they have valid reasons to stay, including a fear of political reprisals. It is time we end a Cuba policy that has sowed ill will among our southern neighbors and non-Cuban immigrant populations in the United States."
March 4, 2013
"US Should Focus Aid on Syrian Refugees"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[E]veryone will be better off in the interim if the United States can help keep Syrian refugees from destabilizing the region. That means steering our humanitarian assistance towards temporary relief, providing public safety and emergency resources to the host nations, and enforcing promises made by Arab neighbors and the international community to provide financial support for the refugees."
February 28, 2013
"UN's Cold, but Correct, Call on Haiti"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Putting aside whether the UN's attitude has been sympathetic enough, whether it should vet peacekeeping forces better before deploying them, and whether the organization has a moral obligation to give Haiti more help with its public health needs, Ban's decision will protect all relief efforts in the future. It is the only outcome that provides the necessary protections to those who are asked to work voluntarily in dangerous situations. Most importantly, it will maintain an incentive for nations to support UN efforts for assistance or peacekeeping missions that have, by any measure, done far more good than harm."
February 21, 2013
"Should Boston Try to Host the Olympics?"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"The duties of a summer host city are not to be undertaken on a whim: Up to 45,000 hotel rooms; the creation of an Olympic Village for nearly 17,000 athletes; ability to handle a potential media presence of 15,000 broadcasters; a transportation infrastructure capable of moving thousands of visitors; and the capacity to fill 200,000 short-term jobs. But there are now creative ways to privatize these efforts, and many of a city's long-planned public investments might be more politically palatable with an Olympics to host. That was London's strategy, which coupled permanent transportation and infrastructure improvements with its hosting of the games."
February 18, 2013
"Cruise Ships Now Too Big to Bail"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"The real disaster is that passengers are unlikely to have much recourse against Carnival. Weak laws govern the seas, making individual causes of action difficult to win and, even worse, collective actions almost impossible to bring....But the Triumph incident shows that passengers need to be worried about more than individual claims. The travelers on the Triumph will get reimbursements, but there's not likely to be the kind of financial penalties that could alter the behavior of ship owners."
February 14, 2013
"Obama: The Master of Disaster"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Across the Eastern Seaboard, from New Jersey's damaged shoreline to the parts of New England ravaged by the blizzard last week, the government is considering whether to allow people to use federal funds to rebuild homes in areas that will, inevitably, be at risk once again. No one doubts the emotional and political consequences of moving people. That's why the federal relief fund for victims of Hurricane Sandy sets aside about $18 billion to rebuild homes and businesses in safer places. There will be another hurricane."
February 11, 2013
"Numbers Matter in Public Safety Reform"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Hundreds of books and academic studies have sought to analyze the major reduction in crime in New York City during mayor Rudy Giuliani's reign in the 1990s. Giuliani's basic proposition was that by focusing police efforts on minor crimes — like breaking windows — there would be a corresponding reduction in major crimes. Broken windows were just a symptom, the theory goes, of unstable environments that lead to more serious crimes....Of course, every major city achieved a significant drop in crime during the same period. What is now seriously in doubt is whether New York's reduction can be tied to a specific police tactic."
February 11, 2013
"Snowstorm Will Provide a Blizzard of Lessons"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"It is worth noting that the only driving-related fatalities this weekend occurred in other states; massive pileups, with drivers stuck in cars for hours on end, took place in states that failed to institute travel bans. Preventing deaths has rarely been simpler. Meanwhile, the deficiencies in the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, in particular, led to advancements in federal emergency management support, airline cancellation protocols, communications systems, and the speed of coastal evacuations, all of which came into play in this storm."
