HIGHER EDUCATION: POLICY AND SECURITY
August 27, 2012
"Who Needs College?"
Op-Ed, Newsweek
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Will higher education the next big bubble to pop? Niall Ferguson, a noted historian and member of the Belfer Center's Board of Directors, thinks so. In a new op-ed, Ferguson argues that despite the United States having 22 out of the top 30 world universities, "all is far from well in the groves of American academe."
Harvard Photo
July 13, 2012
Harvard Kennedy School Receives Gift from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences
Press Release
By Doug Gavel
The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) has given $8.1 million to Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) to support the continuation of the Kuwait Program at HKS Belfer Center's Middle East Initiative. The gift will be used to develop leaders with the capacity to address the many challenging public policy issues facing the region. It will also fund research issues of vital importance in the region, such as education, energy, and water.
Winter 2011-2012
"Juma Lauded for Role in First Innovation Advisory Council"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
Calestous Juma, director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, played a central role in creation of the Lagos Innovation Advisory Council, the first of its kind in Africa.
AP Photo
July 5, 2011
"Southern Sudan Has Many Lessons to Learn from Juba University"
Op-Ed, The Guardian
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
"Critics of the role of universities in economic transformation argue that higher education takes too long to show results and that its focus is usually too academic. However, the evidence suggests that practically oriented universities offer the fastest and most durable ways to incubate new states. With the right vision, universities can confer their attributes to a new state."
January 2011
"Human Capacity"
Book Chapter
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
"Nowhere is the missed opportunity to build human capacity more evident than in the case of women and agriculture in Africa. The majority of farmers in Africa are women. Women provide 70%–80% of the labor for food crops grown in Africa, an effort without which African citizens would not eat. Female farmers make up 48% of the African labor force. This work by women is a crucial effort in nations where the economy is usually based on agriculture."
Summer 2011
"From the Director"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
“There are decades when nothing happens, and then there are weeks when decades happen.” So Lenin once observed, and as the impetus for the revolution that transformed Czarist Russia into the Communist Soviet Union, he had grounds for this insight. In the spaces analyzed by those of us at the Belfer Center, more things seem to be happening more rapidly with greater impact on a broader array of American interests than any time in recent memory.
Summer 2011
"Schlesinger Honored with Professorship in his Name"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
James R. Schlesinger, chair of the Belfer Center International Council and Harvard alumnus, has been honored by Harvard Kennedy School’s establishment of the James R. Schlesinger Professorship of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy.
AP Photo
May 13, 2010
"The Brain Drain We Don't Hear About"
Op-Ed, Haaretz
By Ilai Saltzman, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2009–2010
"The finance and education ministers and the heads of the academic planning institutions have to understand that when they plan new "centers of excellence," it is important to include, in the correct proportions, the fields of philosophy, political science, history and communications, among others. These are not necessarily subjects that encourage national economic growth by luring investors or making technological breakthroughs, but they definitely meet an academic demand and undoubtedly can help address the non-material needs of Israeli society, thereby contributing to its strength and vitality."
February 10, 2010
"Young Arab World Arising"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
DUBAI -- When the public policy institute that I work for, the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, organized a regional seminar this week on researching "youth identity and values" in the Arab world, we decided to hold it in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a Gulf region where "identity issues" are widely debated because nationals tend to account for less than twenty per cent of total populations.
AP Photo
July 26, 2009
"Working-Class Kids Need Help to Help Themselves"
Op-Ed, Sunday Herald
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2010
"We have offered ideas to introduce more young people to internship opportunities, help them find affordable accommodation if they live far from the city and use student loans to help pay for the period of unpaid internship. If our ideas are successful, the best and most talented will be able to compete for internship places based solely on intellect, talent and potential. These ideas won't solve all the inequalities in the country, but they will be a step in the right direction.
However, while the government and society can support aspiration, it is individuals themselves who hold the key. Fostering a culture of aspiration requires, in many cases, individuals and families to change their attitudes."
