We are thrilled to have David Battat on our advisory committee! https://loom.ly/7gcPm00

Excellent thread on the containment trap 👇

Check out our events for the week of May 17, 2026. https://loom.ly/Vx2WbzE

When do efforts to change one social norm help—or hurt—efforts to change another? A new working paper models how social norms interact through technology & conformity pressures in Sierra Leone and Nigeria. https://loom.ly/nTyfh7w

The old manufacturing playbook has changed. With 1.5 billion developing-world workers outside global trade, the real path to growth isn't factories—it's boosting productivity in services. @drodrik.bsky.social on rethinking manufacturing: https://loom.ly/gN1hqDM

Congratulations to @rochellesun.bsky.social & @juliosolis.bsky.social on receiving 2 competitive grants from J-PAL’s Crime and Violence Initiative & IPA’s Peace and Recovery Initiative to support new research on governance, violence, and political leadership in Haiti 👏 Read our Q&A: buff.ly/QwBFx5K

In case you missed our 2026 International Book Blitz last week, you can watch the full event video here. Big thanks to the authors who shared their new books, and to the attendees for joining us! https://loom.ly/_R3GDHg

The war in Iran has revealed a hard truth: energy dependence is political dependence. Countries reliant on fossil fuel imports are paralyzed, while those powered by renewables are speaking freely & brokering peace. Read the Foreign Affairs piece by Benjamin Bradlow: https://loom.ly/8x70CCI

🆕 Where international finance meets development: The role of currency risk Nicola Limodio (Bocconi), Tommaso Porzio (Columbia Business School), Awa Ambra Seck (Harvard), Emmanuel Yimfor & Anne Kersting (J-PAL) discuss currency volatility in African markets: https://ow.ly/6OSs50YXwHy

Congratulations, @evapayne.bsky.social!

Check out our events for the week of May 10, 2026. https://loom.ly/4IzKcwo

Great event summary of our 2026 International Book Blitz in the Harvard Gazette today! https://loom.ly/iMgUtns

If either South Korea or Japan takes “the nuclear leap, the other could soon follow,” write ‪@victordcha.bsky.social and @kristigovella.bsky.social. To prevent that outcome, the United States should “recommit to extended deterrence in Asia.”

🆕 How Chile's maternity leave extension boosted women's employment Today on VoxDev, Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero (UW–Madison) discusses how doubling of maternity leave increased mothers' formal employment in Chile: https://ow.ly/Q2UP50YVWrV

New article from 3 Weatherhead alums (Evren Balta, Oded Haklai, Andrew O'Donohue) reveals an interesting finding: the retrenchment of US democracy promotion has enabled autocratization in two US allies—Israel and Türkiye—but to varying degrees and through different pathways. https://loom.ly/Ba5EP5g

Congrats to Rochelle Sun (@rochellesun.bsky.social), who was awarded a competitive research grant from the JPAL Crime and Violence Initiative (@j-pal.bsky.social) to support her dissertation on #violence against #healthcare providers in contemporary civil conflicts. Read our Q&A ⬇️ buff.ly/iItYEIV

🚨 Now out in @bjpols.bsky.social w @busbyj2.bsky.social @jordantama.bsky.social @ckafura.bsky.social: Do American foreign policy elites know what the public wants? Partnering with @global-affairs.bsky.social, we show that elites systematically misread the room 🧵 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

From Iraq to Cambridge: Archeologist ‪@jasonur.bsky.social‬, known for his digital mapping of Middle Eastern landscapes, applies his methods to the Old Burying Ground to uncover unmarked graves of enslaved people who worked in the homes of Harvard faculty. https://loom.ly/OpAfmQo

The Trump administration is betting everything on hard power while systematically dismantling America's soft power—dismantling USAID, attacking universities, etc—writes @stephenwalt.bsky.social. History shows this is a losing strategy. https://loom.ly/3_Gmfq0

The Jones Act was created to ensure only US merchant vessels are allowed between US ports, keeping foreign vessels out. Economists Marc Melitz and Daniel Bergstresser prove that the monetary cost of restricting foreign routes is very high, in @econofact.bsky.social. https://loom.ly/NGFqJqc

LISTEN: Capitalism hasn't always looked the way it does today. It's evolved dramatically over a millennium, and its global expansion changed the world. Sven Beckert tracks the sweep of capitalism through an historic lens in this Epicenter podcast with Senthil Nathan. https://loom.ly/0hnIr1U

Check out our events for the week of May 3, 2026. https://loom.ly/HD009oI

Check out our events for the week of April 26, 2026. https://loom.ly/47AT400

In an interview with the @indianexpress.com, Rahul Mehrotra sees the new generation of architects as less concerned about national identities and more focused on sustainability and building community. https://loom.ly/HsX3YVI

Peter Der Manuelian talks about the pyramids of Egypt, 3D models, using drones for research, and the future of AI and archeological museums, in this video interview. https://loom.ly/A7J3yRA

Is there a relationship between authoritarianism and capitalism? Historian @svenbeckert.bsky.social offers his insights in this podcast from Prospect, UK. The interview is based on his new book on the global history of capitalism. https://loom.ly/tSptCv0

In an interview with @elpais.com, Alejandro de la Fuente states that Cuba's imminent collapse didn't start with Trump's executive order this year; the country began a downward spiral in 2020-21 due to government incompetence and repression. https://loom.ly/hM4_rFs

Catch up on Epicenter with our latest newsletter—read about dignity in the workplace, the power of sports to unite and divide, and scroll through the latest publications of our affiliates and alumni. https://loom.ly/Q4bup4s

Neha Sanghrajka recently spoke at @harvard-carr-ryan.bsky.social about her work negotiating the 2019 peace accord in Mozambique. After several failures, she and her team broke some of the typical rules and invented their own process. https://loom.ly/3HDGo_Y

Check out our events for the week of April 19, 2026. https://loom.ly/uPc2bF0

NEW on Epicenter: Sports has a unique power to bring people together and also drive them apart. Steve Ortega draws on some historic examples and also reflects on the interplay between sports and politics. https://loom.ly/_s8Ah_w

Four of our Faculty Associates join the class of 2026 Guggenheim Fellows—an award for trailblazing artists, scientists, and scholars across a variety of fields. Congratulations to all! https://loom.ly/hGaeN_U

At a pivotal moment for LGBTQI+ communities worldwide, we—along with the Carr-Ryan Center—will convene a global cohort of fellows from all over the world to share research advancing dignity, safety, freedom, and equality. For details and registration: www.hks.harvard.edu/events/globa...

Kudos to Weatherhead alum Dawn Doak, who contributed to episodes 2 and 3 on a three-part podcast on transnational repression, produced by the Observer. Episode 1 starts here: https://loom.ly/DVtYqjI

The greatest threat from AI is not that it will displace human work but that it will displace human thought. My latest. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

New article! @risabrooks12.bsky.social & I have a piece forthcoming in Security Studies presenting a typology of military responses when politicians erode democracy, ranging from partnering to blocking those efforts, + offering hypotheses & directions for future work kaithaler.com/wp-content/u...

Check out our events for the week of April 12, 2026. https://loom.ly/--rTcfw

We want the fighting to end, says former Ambassador Nicholas Burns about the war in Iran. But: "Can we now succeed at the negotiating table? We need friends. We need the Japanese, the South Koreans, the NATO allies, to be putting pressure on the Iranians." LISTEN: https://loom.ly/oS64rGA

"Retooling" goes beyond innovation vs. maintenance. It's about strategically reorienting existing systems (water tech, sugarcane farming, etc.) to address sociotechnical change. The insight? All transformation has political dimensions. New research by Katie Ulrich et al. https://loom.ly/PZQdvHo

Join us on April 24-25 for “Surfacing,” the 2026 symposium organized by students in the PhD program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. This year, scholars were invited to reflect on histories of surface-making and surface-breaking. https://hgsd.us/4tBPws1

New research on reducing racial bias: A low-cost "peer praise" intervention encouraging empathy showed mixed results. While it didn't shift attitudes or self-reported empathy toward Black & Latino Americans, it did motivate political action (donations, letters for equality). https://loom.ly/ePHqdxk

Immigrant doctors make up ¼ of US physicians and are doing essential work in underserved communities—yet many face long visa waits and complex bureaucracy. Listen to Eram Alam discuss her new book on JPR: https://loom.ly/0Nrndy0

Artemis II gives us a profound view of our planet from space. Former fellow D. Ouellet describes this experience in a compelling essay, and questions why anyone would be called an alien or an outsider, when we all share a common home. https://loom.ly/jECz2vs

How are cities delivering infrastructure through partnerships? Join us for a conversation featuring mayors from Halifax (Canada), Raleigh (NC), Lafayette (LA). In-person event open to HUID holders, virtual event open to all. For info and registration, visit: www.wcfia.harvard.edu/event/weathe...

New research from surveys across the US, UK, France & Germany reveals a surprising truth: populism isn't monolithic. One variant fuels xenophobia & attacks pluralism. But another—rooted in economic fairness & supportive of minorities—could strengthen democracy. https://loom.ly/T9fsr3U

Join us April 22 for an event that explores the emerging jurisprudence and policy frameworks that recognize the distinct risks faced by LGBTQI+ environmental defenders—and what stronger, more inclusive protections could look like. https://loom.ly/rBzMx74

NEW on Epicenter: War doesn't destroy only lives and infrastructure. It quietly kicks away the fragile ladders of dignity that millions of workers have spent a lifetime climbing. Senthil Nathan reflects on the universal right to dignity at work. https://loom.ly/c6Hmo-c

Check out our events for the week of April 5, 2026. https://loom.ly/avhWbPQ

Harvard economists warn AI job disruption could dwarf the 2008 "jobless recovery," especially if recession hits. A potential AI bubble, inflation from conflict in the Middle East, and an unstable US dollar would signify even more trouble in the global economy. https://loom.ly/n5XZ_Oc

🗣️ Our special events are now available to listen—on whatever platform you usually listen on! Check out our "Weatherhead Events" channel on Simplecast: https://loom.ly/WuLSMUU