A spike in COVID-19 cases in Japan forced an abrupt ban on spectators at the Olympics this summer. Andrew Gordon and Michael R. Reich investigate the cause of the surprisingly slow vaccine rollout that left the Japanese population vulnerable.
A new generation in Cuba, witness to decades of rising racial and economic inequality, demand food, services, and a freer life. Three Weatherhead Center scholars describe the layers of repression that led to the current state of unrest in Cuba.
Economist Nathan Nunn and his team measure the long-term impacts of the Tulsa massacre on Black communities in the US and find a pattern that resonates with an earlier analysis of the transatlantic slave trade, where violence begets long-term economic and social disadvantages that span generations.
What do governments gain by sending their citizens into the streets? Grzegorz Ekiert and Elizabeth J. Perry advance the field of contentious politics and social movements with the study of State-Mobilized Movements—an example of which US citizens recently witnessed.
While some countries overcame obstacles caused by the pandemic, others were pushed further behind in their efforts to collect critical socioeconomic data. Visiting Scholar Michael Harsch and Harvard student Alexandra Norris examine the latest trends in a follow-up to Harsch’s “Measuring State Fragility” post.
As Uganda struggles to democratize, a playbook of authoritarian tactics defeats a promising new leader. Political scientist Kai M. Thaler traces the rise and hope of Bobi Wine.
To address the widening skills gap in the US workforce, two Harvard researchers call for a new social contract with the American worker, taking lessons from other industrialized democracies.
Are you still waiting for your vaccination? WCFIA Fellow Mario Jimenez of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, reports on the multifaceted efforts to supply the world with the vaccines necessary to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking back at a tumultuous year, Visiting Fellow Georgette Ledgister shows how the social and political unrest in the US reverberated in Africa in 2020.
Annette Idler sees conflict as a dynamic and shifting phenomenon. From her extensive field work, she has given local officials and civilians tools to prepare for violence before it arrives in their villages.
There has never been a more critical time to pull nations together. The next president must decide what kinds of partnerships the US will form with foreign leaders in an increasingly polarized world.
When assessing a developing country’s need for aid, an important metric often gets overlooked: the ability of a state to collect statistics on its population, says Visiting Scholar Michael Harsch.
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