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Weatherhead Events

Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University sponsors many special events throughout the year, including prominent lectureships and our regular Weatherhead Forum—our platform to address pressing topics of the day.

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  • 20 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 15 min
  • English

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  • #27
    May 11 · 37 min

    International Book Blitz 2026

    Celebrate the end of the academic year at our annual International Book Blitz. At this popular event, open to all Weatherhead affiliates, a panel of faculty and alums will each give a seven-minute “speed talk” about their recent book, launching us into compelling issues from around the world.

  • #25
    February 11 · 1 hr 30 min

    The Jodidi Lecture with Atul Gawande / The Mechanics of Public Man-Made Death: USAID’s Destruction At One Year

    The Trump Administration’s abrupt dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has triggered a wave of already hundreds of thousands of deaths, mostly of children, around the world. Atul Gawande—former leader of global health at the agency—draws on data, historical parallels, and on-the-ground fact-finding to reveal how gains against malnutrition, infectious disease, and child mortality are being rapidly reversed. Gawande argues that this is a case of “public man-made death

  • #23
    Nov 12, 2025 · 1 hr 32 min

    The Manshel Lecture with Walter Russell Mead / The Crisis of Pax Americana

    After World War II, the United States committed to building a liberal international order. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US doubled down on this commitment. In the twenty-first century, that liberal world order is being challenged abroad and at home. In a period of tumult and confusion, the United States must now rethink its core international strategy.

  • #22
    Nov 5, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min

    Weatherhead Forum / Now What? Foreign Policy and the State of Democracy—One Year Later

    Last year brought the reelection of US President Donald Trump—and the start of the new administration has already had seismic impact. One year after the election, foreign policy is increasingly viewed through the lens of democratic values, with many citizens and leaders asking whether international norms—like free elections, human rights, and rule of law—are being upheld or eroded in US diplomacy.

  • #21
    Oct 15, 2025 · 1 hr 13 min

    Weatherhead Forum / The Legacy of Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

    Joseph S. Nye, Jr. served as director of the Weatherhead Center, then named the Center for International Affairs, from 1989–1993. From his theories of complex interdependence to soft power (and beyond), his legacy is vast and he has influenced many institutions, leaders, and political scholarship at large. We hope to touch on these myriad contributions in our Forum event.

  • #20
    Sep 17, 2025 · 1 hr 16 min

    Weatherhead Forum / From Victory to Uncertainty: The Postwar Order After Eighty Years

    This year we mark eighty years to the end of World War II, which birthed an international order that has profoundly shaped our world. Today, many argue that we are seeing the dissolution of the post-WWII world order and a transition into something else entirely. This panel asks: How should we understand the post-WWII world order eighty years later? How and why is it now changing? And where do we think this is all going?

  • #19
    May 5, 2025 · 55 min

    International Book Blitz 2025

    Celebrate the end of the academic year at our fourth International Book Blitz. At this popular event, open to all Weatherhead affiliates, a panel of Weatherhead Center Faculty Associates will each give a seven-minute “speed talk” about their recent book, launching us into compelling issues from around the world. A party for affiliates will follow the presentations.

  • #18
    Apr 16, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min

    Special Event / Trade and Inflation in a Fragmented World

    Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan delivers a public lecture on the economic impact of international tariffs and industrial policies under the Trump administration. For background information, please read the "Global Networks, Monetary Policy and Trade" paper (PDF download).

  • #17
    Feb 19, 2025 · 1 hr 25 min

    Weatherhead Forum / Syria and Shifting Power Dynamics in the Middle East

    The fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad has led to the takeover of the state by HTS, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre of Abu Mohammad al-Julani. And he is now appointed President of Syria. So a lot has changed in the past few months, and this has important ramifications not only for Syria and the Syrian people, but also for the region as a whole.

  • #16
    Feb 6, 2025 · 1 hr 30 min

    The Manshel Lecture with Ben Rhodes / American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era

    Ben Rhodes argues US foreign policy mirrors its domestic identity, contrasting JFK’s aspirational USAID era with Trump‑era nationalism, dismantling of aid, and renewed talk of territorial expansion. As great powers ignore rules and inequality deepens, he says renewal abroad requires rebuilding US democracy and shared identity through reform, organizing, solidarity, and uncensored dissent.

  • #15
    Nov 6, 2024 · 1 hr 19 min

    Weatherhead Forum / What's Next? Breaking Down the US Presidential Election Results

    We have made it to the other side of election day after quite a fraught campaign. This is our second forum looking at the US elections but, of course, the only one that follows the 2024 elections. So today, we are talking about what is next. And we are joined by three eminent scholars who will look at the implications of the results for democracy here and abroad, and what's at stake in foreign policy.

  • #14
    Oct 24, 2024 · 1 hr 14 min

    The Jodidi Lecture with Tjada D'Oyen McKenna / Cope, Adapt, Thrive: Ensuring Our Shared Future on a Hot and Hostile Planet

    The last five years have illuminated our growing global interconnectedness: from the pandemic to volatile food prices and shortages to global tech outages. As we enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century, the twin threats of climate change and conflict are now converging with urgent global consequences for all: destruction of food systems and livelihoods; mass displacement and migration; and fierce competition over depleting natural resources. This convergence has unraveled decades of

  • #12
    Oct 9, 2024 · 1 hr 15 min

    Weatherhead Forum / Geopolitical Stakes of the 2024 US Presidential Election

    There are less than thirty days left until the presidential election. The stakes in the United States could not be higher. But what about the geopolitical stakes? We are a center for international affairs, so we are very much interested in the ramifications of the upcoming election for geopolitics.

  • #11
    May 1, 2024 · 1 hr 37 min

    Special Event / Pernicious Prejudice: Scholarly Approaches to Antisemitism and Islamophobia

    This in-person event is part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Civil Discourse Initiative. The panel will focus on how leading social scientists conceptualize, measure, and study key forms of prejudice in the US context, focusing specifically on antisemitism and Islamophobia. The event will bring together top scholars who are at the forefront of studying these important and pernicious phenomena using rigorous, evidence-based data, methods, and sources.

  • #10
    Apr 22, 2024 · 47 min

    International Book Blitz 2024

    Celebrate the end of the academic year at our third International Book Blitz. At this popular event, open to all Weatherhead affiliates, a panel of Weatherhead Center Faculty Associates will each give a seven-minute “speed talk” about their recent book, launching us into compelling issues from around the world. A party for affiliates will follow the presentations.

  • #9
    Mar 27, 2024 · 1 hr 35 min

    Weatherhead Forum / The War in Israel/Palestine Series / Part 5: Peace Activism

    Long before the events of October 2023, thousands of people, both Palestinians and Israelis, have been active in the peace movement. Amidst today’s heightened tensions, peace groups remain active but are operating under more challenging conditions. Undeterred by bans on protests and blowback on social media, peace activists are pursuing distinct visions to construct new realities for Palestinians and Israelis. Through their passion and commitment, they are attracting support from around the worl

  • #8
    Feb 16, 2024 · 1 hr 16 min

    Weatherhead Forum / The War in Israel/Palestine Series / Part 4: A Dialogue

    How do two prominent philosophers—one Palestinian, one Israeli—think about the war in Gaza, the October 7 attack, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and prospects for the future? Can philosophical reflection contribute to our understanding of the crisis in the Middle East? Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel moderates a discussion between Sari Nusseibeh, a renowned Palestinian philosopher and former president of Al Quds University who has been active in Palestinian politics and peacemaki

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