The Harvard International Review is a quarterly magazine offering insight on international affairs from the perspectives of scholars, leaders, and policymakers. Since our founding in 1979, we've set out to bridge the worlds of academia and policy through outstanding writing and editorial selection.
The quality of our content is unparalleled. Each issue of the Harvard International Review includes exclusive interviews and editorials by leading international figures along with expert staff analysis of critical international issues. We have featured commentary by 43 Presidents and Prime Ministers, 4 Secretaries-General, 4 Nobel Economics Prize laureates, and 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Inspired by our growing high school readership around the world, we created the Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest to encourage and highlight outstanding high school writing on topics related to international affairs.
Congratulations to all Fall/Winter 2022 medal winners on the quality of your submissions!
Gold Medal
Haoyu Xu. Hangzhou Foreign Language School Cambridge A-level Center.“Deadly Donated Drones: the Underdiscussed Weaponry of the Russia-Ukraine War”
Richard Li. Shanghai American School Puxi Campus. “Rights Violations Allegations Against the Nigerian Military: A Counterterrorism Catastrophe in the Making”
Bowen Xu. Hangzhou Foreign Language School CAL Center. “Preservation vs Opportunity: Indigenous Language Death in an English-Speaking World”
Catherine Liu. Perth College. “Farewell to Charles de Gaulle Airport: Iranian Man's Death Sheds Light on the Desperate Plight of Stateless People Worldwide”
Cheng Huang. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “Divided by a Common Goal: How Emissions Proposals Are Endangering New Zealand’s Farming Industry”
Grace Liu. Syosset High School, New York. “Connecting the Unconnected: Narrowing the Gender Digital Divide in the Least Developed Countries”
Lawrence Wu. Upper Canada College. “The Gordian Knot of Okinawa”
Mandy Wang. Central York High School. “Germany: Global Warming Combatant or Contributor?”
Minzhi (Yoyo) Zhang. Choate Rosemary Hall. “How Chinese Censorship Threatens American Free Speech”
Qian Yu Alexis, Liu. Harrow International School Hong Kong. “The Distorted Justice: An Examination of Femicide in Honduras”
Xibei Kuang. Pinehurst School. “The Stolen Childhoods of Africa: An Impending Problem Economic Development Cannot Eradicate”
Xin Zhang. North London Collegiate School Jeju. “Protecting Fish While Extending Borders: China’s Strategic Game of Chess in the South China Sea”
Yushu Li. YK Pao School. “Period Poverty: An Invisibilized Educational Crisis for Girls”
Ziyuan Zhao. BASIS International School Shenzhen. “NATO’s Maverick: Understanding Turkey’s Motives Post-Ukraine”
Silver Medal
Dinghui Tian. Chongqing Bashu Secondary School. “Crisis Behind the Divine Wealth: Kazakhstan's Cursed Education”
Hotin Lu. BASIS International School Park Lane Harbor. “The Other Oil Shortage: How Indonesia's Palm Oil Export Ban Sent Food Prices Soaring in 2022”
Rachel Guo. Vanke Meisha Academy. “The Green Wave: A Revolution of Women, Abortion Rights, and Freedom”
Shi Ke. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Trump” Inflation: Why Trump-era Tariffs are Unlikely to Go Away Any Time Soon
Shuyi Deng. YK Pao School. “Oyster Restoration Projects: A Nature-based Solution to Gender Inequality”
Yiwen Chen. Hangzhou No.14 High School. “Getting Old Before Getting Rich: Measures to Address the Aging Crisis in China”
Yixian Zheng. Miss Porter's School. “The Unseen Team: Workers Who Built Qatar’s World Cup Under Human Rights Abuses”
Chris Yin. Hong Kong International School. “Topping Charts, but Not in a Good Way: An Analysis of Obesity in Nauru”
Christopher Wang. Collegiate School NYC. “Artificial Intelligence and Green Nudging: A Revolutionary Way to Tackle Global Climate Change”
Ding Yueyue. UWC Changshu China. “Creating an inhabitable planet for all: the Asian American Dilemma”
Harrison Gu. Shanghai American School. “Balancing Divergent Interests: Turkey’s Membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”
Jiankai Zhao. Raffles Institution. “From China to Myanmar: The Search for Rare-Earths”
Jiarui Wang. Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School Qingpu. “Ice and Fire on the Arctic Route”
Jingyu Zhang. United World College of SouthEast Asia (East Campus). “Singapore's Ignored Population: Migrant workers”
Jun Zeng. International Department, Affiliated High School of South China Normal University. “India: A Cautionary Tale for Developing Nations”
Meiqi Yuan. Keystone Academy. “The Making of “Killers”: When the Development of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Becomes Uncontrollable”
Naomi Xia. Hangzhou International School. “The Pernicious Effects of Pesticides on Ecology, Environment, and Humanity”
Vera Hsiang. W.B. Ray High School. “America’s Costly Cobalt Mining Standards and Climate Change Agenda”
Wancheng Liu. Raffles Institution. “Improving Agribusiness Attractiveness: The Secret Panacea for Youth Unemployment in Africa”
Weiyue Ma. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Life of the açai berry: The true cost of child labor on Brazilian plantations”
Wenqian Liang. Guangdong Country Garden School. “Unrest in Nagorno- Karabakh: Who should be in charge of peacekeeping?”
Yiting Peng. Shanghai Shangde Experiment School. “A New Frontier in the Smart Age: Construction of Smart Villages in Azerbaijan”
Yu Kiu Chau. Shanghai American School. “Hong Kong's Housing Crisis: A Case Study or a Peek into the Future?”
Yunfei Chen. Guangzhou Foreign Language School. “The Talent War that is Threatening Supply Chain Sustainability”
Yunhan Ge. Santa Catalina School. “Battle To Protect Ukrainian Cultural Heritage From Destruction”
Zeyi Zhu. Beijing Academy. “How to Save the World: By Word or By Deed?”
Zeyou Zheng. Olive Tree International Academy, BFSU. “Employing Refugees: More than the Right Thing to Do”
Zihe Jiang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Please Address Her by Her Kurdish Name: Jîna”
Bronze Medal
Fu Chen. Hongwen School Shanghai. “Invisible Women: Women Survivors of Sexual Violence During the Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-1995 Civil War”
Jason Hou. Beijing Haidian Kaiwen Academy. “Copenhagen: Sustainable Future Driven By Smart City”
Jingyun Li. Huaer Zizhu Academy. “Climate Change: The Hidden Hindrance to South Asian Girls' Education”
Kaitlyn Yoon. Episcopal High School. “Digital Technology: An Emerging Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder”
Qinhe Yang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Minority Employment in China: The Harsh Realities that Women, LGBT, and Disabled People Experience”
Shiyuan Dang. YK Pao School. “Education Cannot Wait for the Russo-Ukrainian War”
Shuang Wu. Shanghai Pinghe School. “Catalyzing Global Food Inflation: India Bans Wheat Exports”
Yurong Zhang. German Swiss International School. “The Future of Hydropower
Development in Nepal”
Zihan Zhou. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Why, Despite the Ukraine War, Russia and the United States Continue to Cooperate on the International Space Station”
Alexander Recce. The Pingry School. “Computing a Lower Carbon Footprint”
Angela Yuhan Zhang, Feng Jiang. Shanghai High School International Division. “Inherent Discrimination, Legal Isolation, Economic Exploitation: the Sexual Trafficking of Native Americans”
Ashwin Telang. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South. “As China Saves Water, It Drains South Asia"
Calvin Moon. Choate Rosemary Hall. “Intellectual Property Rights: the Key to China’s Rise to Global Superpower”
Chuyue Wu. Hangzhou Foreign Language School. “The Global Gag Rule and Reproductive Health Bill: the Past and Future of East Africa”
Harvey Yang. Huili School Shanghai. “Ocean Acidification: Can We Remedy the Situation Before It Is Too Late?”
Ishaan Busireddy. River Hill High School. “Climate to Conflict: the GERD and Sudan – Africa’s Hidden Powder Keg”
Jiatong Li, Runjin Mao. Shenzhen Middle School. “COVID 19, More Than Just Another Black Death”
Jiayu Ye. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “Unexpected Victims: How Climate Change is Eroding Our Cultural Treasures”
Leyi Cai. UWC Changshu China. “Environmental Crises Led by Consumerism”
MingTing Zhou. Keystone Academy (Beijing,China) . “Water Pilgrims: The Women of Rural Benin”
Shelley Huang. Shekou International School. “Alaskan Oil Drilling: Land Leases Lead to Unsustainable Futures”
Shihan Jin. Shanghai Jianping High School. “A Silent Struggle: Environmental Problems in Wartime Ukraine and Solutions”
Shuhan Wang. No.38 High School. “Analysis of the Relationship between Climate Change and Poor Countries”
Yang Zhang. WLSA Shanghai Academy. “The Rising Crisis in Kurdistan”
Yatika Singh. Welham Girls' School. “Painting With a Brush Too Broad: Africa's Just Energy Transition Must Leave Behind Generalizations and Move Toward Contextual Solutions”
Yinuo Tong. Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. “Regulatory Framework for Environmental Protection on the International Stage: A Review of China’s Leadership Potential”
Yiyang Wang. Beijing 101 Middle/High School; Haiyang Zeng. Haidian Foreign Language Academy. “Is There A Virtual Planet B: The Reverse Relationship Between Virtual and Real Economy”
Yizhou Hu. Annie Wright Schools. “After the Retreat: The Unseen Destruction of Ukrainian Identity”
Yuanming(Owen) Zhao. Kent School. “Single Use Abuse”
Yuanxin Sun. Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy. “Looking Backward: The Role of Indigenous Knowledge and Power in Amazon Fire Control”
Yunshu Hao. Sage Creek High School. “Striving for Water: China and India’s Dam Building Rush”
ZheQi Bai. International School of Beijing. “Engulfed by Emissions: The Declining State of Air Quality in Bangladesh”
Zhou Ziyue Mia. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). “Malawi: The Return of Polio could affect Generations to come”
Zihan Zhou, Muhan Liu. Harrow Beijing. “Groupement de Créateurs: A Unique Take on Youth Unemployment”
Ziqi Liu. International Department, Affiliated High School of South China Normal University. “'Lying flat": When We “Quiet Quit” from Society"
Ziqian Albert Wang. Basis International School Park Lane Harbor. “The Exorbitant Price of Cheap Clothes: Fast Fashion’s Humanitarian and Environmental Implications”
Ziran Wei. High School affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. “Dark Future for the Earth's Lung: Ramifications of Brazil's Election”