The candidates for the 2014 election for University Council president and vice president joined moderator Gene Corbin, Assistant Dean for Public Service at Harvard College, in a debate on a variety of issues relevant to the undergraduate community. Candidates Luke Heine '17 and Stephen Turban '17; Ava Nasro '16 and Dhruv Goyal '16; Meghamsh Kanaparthy '16 and Ema Horvath '16; and Happy Yang '16 and Faith Jackson '16 discussed topics including undergraduate group funding, the status of...

General Janet C. Wolfenbarger, Commander of the Air Force Material Command, delivered the 2014 Seymour E. and Ruth B. Harris Lecture in the JFK Jr. Forum. She discussed the challenges and opportunities of a constrained defense budget environment. Wolfenbarger detailed a major reorganization of her Command that has resulted in organizational efficiencies but would not have been possible without the pressure of budget constraints. The Forum was moderated by David Ellwood, Dean of the Harvard...

R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School; Richard Rosencrance, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-editor of “The Next Great War? The Roots of World War I and the Risk of US-China Conflict"; and Etel Solingen, Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace Studies at the University of California, Irvine, joined moderator Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and...

Max Bazerman, co-director of the Center for Public Leadership; Odette van de Riet, Leader of BIT IenM, the Behavioral Insight Team of the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment; and David Halpern, Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team and Board Director of the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, joined moderator Iris Bohnet, Professor of Public Policy at HKS and Director of the Women and Public Policy Program, and co-Director of the Behavioral...

Sergei Karaganov and Sergei Rogov, Director of the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute for the US and Canadian Studies joined Jill Dougherty for a discussion on the pressing domestic and international issues Russia faces today. The speakers addressed topics ranging from the ethnic fabric and identity of modern Russia, to the 2014 unrest in Ukraine and its implications for US-Russia relations.

Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, delivered the 2014 Edwin L. Godkin lecture at the JFK Jr. Forum. Fukuyama discussed his recent book, Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy, emphasizing the importance of institutions in political development. The event was moderated by Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

April Ponnuru, Policy Director of the Young Guns Network; Ramesh Ponnuru, Senior Editor of the National Review; and Pete Wehner, Senior Fellow in the Ethics and Public Policy Center joined moderator Kristen Soltis Anderson, Fall 2014 IOP Fellow and Co-founder of Echelon Insights, in a discussion on reforming American conservatism. The panelists discussed ways for the Republican party to appeal to disenfranchised demographic groups and to make gains in the upcoming midterm and presidential...

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent at CNN, joined Dr. Staci Gruber, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, for a discussion on medical marijuana. Gupta spoke of his experience studying the effects of medical marijuana and recounting stories of patients using the substance for its health benefits. Gupta described how his opinion has changed on the subject as a result of these encounters and the growing evidence to suggest its potential ability to treat...

Barbara Walters, broadcast journalist and television personality, joined David Gergen, Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership, in a discussion on her life in journalism. She told stories of interviews with world leaders; described her experience as a woman in broadcast journalism; and fielded questions from the audience about her most notable interview memories.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., presented the 2014 Malcolm Wiener Lecture on International Political Economy. He emphasized the importance of strong relations between China and the United States; discussed the mounting pressure on governments to address environmental issues; and described the events leading up to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Harvard Business Review Editor Adi Ignatius moderated the event which was co-sponsored by The Mossavar-Rahmani Center...

John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, addressed the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on his country’s past, and on a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues Ghana currently faces. He spoke about Ghana’s plans for future economic development and its place in West African history, while fielding questions from the audience about his country’s international relations and his own philosophy of leadership. The Forum was moderated by Harvard Kennedy School Dean David Ellwood.

His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Philippines, addressed the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on a range of domestic and international policy issues affecting his country and the entire east Asian community. President Aquino also discussed his personal journey into the political realm and the ensuing tough decisions he has been required to make, while fielding questions from the audience on both personal history and the administrative policies and stances of the Filipino...

Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, members of the Russian Feminist Art Punk Rock Collective "Pussy Riot," joined moderator Jill Dougherty, CNN foreign affairs correspondent and Public Policy Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, in a discussion on protest movements and Russian politics. Tolokonnikova’s husband, Pyotr Verzilov, provided translation while The Pussy Riot members discussed their goals, methods and purpose as a group protesting the Putin regime in Russia, as well...

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia joined Dr. Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Dyann Wirth, Professor and Chair in the School of Public Health, in a discussion about the 2014 ebola outbreak in West Africa. Moderator Sheila Burke, MPA, RN, FAAN, led the participants in considering the impacts of ebola and the appropriate responses available to the international community.

Susan Crawford, the John A. Reilly Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property at Harvard Law School, joined Stephen Kaufer, the President, CEO and co-founder of TripAdvisor, Inc. in a panel focusing on the role of government in technology and innovation. Archon Fung, the academic dean of the Harvard Kennedy School moderated the discussion surrounding the issues of privacy, regulation, and big data.

Christopher Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America and former US Senator of Connecticut and Barney Frank, former Representative of Massachusetts to Congress joined moderator Lois Romano to discuss the 2010 legislation that brought changes to financial regulation in the U.S. in response to the financial crisis.

United States Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul addressed the JFK Jr. Forum on recent controversies surrounding national security including wire tapping, profiling, and imprisonment of suspected terrorists. In the question and answer period moderated by Institute of Politics Director, Trey Grayson, touched on Senator Rand’s opinions concerning Obamacare, tax policy, privacy, and libertarianism.

Joan Blades, the co-founder of MoveOn and a MomsRising.org, joined National Tea Party Patriots co-founder and Citizens for Self Governance founder Mark Meckler for a “Challenges to Democracy” discussion. The panel was moderated by Harvard Kennedy School Professor and Ash Center Co-Director Archon Fung and focused on the importance of hearing from different perspectives, democratic participation, and the common ground between conservative and liberal opinions.

Panelists Andrea J. Cabral, MA Executive Secretary of Public Safety, Edward F. Davis, the former Boston Police Commissioner, Thomas Grilk, Executive Director of Boston Athletic Association, and Major General Scott Rice, Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard joined moderator Herman “Dutch” Leonard for a panel discussion to reflect on the emergency system response to the Boston Marathon Bombing. One year later, the panelists addressed balancing macro- and micro- levels of...

Lisa Monaco, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, delivered an address to the JFK Jr. Forum on community-based methods to reduce terrorism. She was joined after by a panel including activist Rev. Jeffrey Brown, Director of Muslim Public Affairs, Haris Tarin, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Farah Pandith, who discussed their experiences working on a community-level to counter violence.

His Excellency Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador addressed the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on a range of domestic policy issues affecting his country and the Latin American community. President Correa discussed Ecuador’s focus on reducing poverty and the role of government in promoting fair, equitable growth.

Former Director of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, Former Director of the CIA David Petraeus, and current Belfer Center Director Graham Allison discussed the possibility of peace in the Middle East with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran’s nuclear program, and the changing nature of national security organizations.

Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns moderated a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on the ongoing crisis in Syria with Former Deputy National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, Elliot Abrams, former Special Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith, and former Knesset member and co-founder of Israel’s “Peace Now” movement Avshalom Vilan. Panelists discussed the possibility of a U.S. intervention, either financially or militarily, along with regional instability and future geopolitical...

Harvard University Prize Fellow Brandon M. Terry moderated a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on Race, Film, and Culture with Pulitzer Prize winner and current Grantland writer Wesley Morris and African and African American Studies Harvard College Fellow Kellie Carter Jackson. The panelists discussed the depiction of men and women of color in popular film and the struggles they faced to headline big budget cinema.

Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab joined David Gergen at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum for a conversation about proactive solutions for many of the long-term problems the world is currently facing including poverty, inequality, and climate change. Schwab focused on the importance of collaboration between business and government as well as socio-global responsibility.