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 Spring 2023 medal winners on the quality of your submissions!
Gold Medal
Jinrong Li. Hefei Thomas School. “Mexico's Dilemma: An Arduous Juggle Between Nano-Competitiveness and Nanosafety”
Mucheng An. Beijing International Bilingual Academy. “AI Art: Navigating Challenges, Inequities, and the Future of Creativity”
Yining Wang. Mercersburg Academy. “Young Talent Displacement in the Shrinking Handicraft Industry”
Ye Wang. Shanghai Southwest Weiyu Middle School. “Robotics in South Africa: Striking a Balance Between Progress and Societal Impact”
Wan Yui Huang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Reframing Realities: Revolutionizing Education with Online Learning Technology for Afghan Women”
Yiwen Xu. Keystone Academy. “Death from Above: The Use of Drones in the Russia-Ukraine War"
Zuyuan Xie. Ningbo No.7 Middle School. “Fallout of the US-China technology competition for South Korea and Japan’s semiconductor industry”
Zhangkairui Xie. Alcanta International College. “Regenerative Agroforestry: An Ancient Solution to Modern Problems”
Ziqi Gu. Hangzhou Foreign Languages School. “The Limits of Carbon Neutrality:
Reassessing Current ClimateGU, Ziqi.pdf Solutions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”
Anzhu Wang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “ Amid the Global Scramble for “Green Energy,” Can the Amazon Rainforest Survive?”
Haolin Duan. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. “CBP One: The Future of Migration at the US-Mexico Border is Being Shaped by a Mobile App”
Chengyi Jin. Basis International Parklane Harbour.“ The Mega Dams of Laos: Measuring the Price of Progress in One of Asia's Poorest Countries”
Silver Medal
Yankang Su. Xi'an Gaoxin No.1 High School. “The Indispensable African Pieces in the AI Jigsaw Puzzle: Africa's Race to Catch Up to AI”
Chenrui Zhang. High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. “The Dark Side of Wet Wipes: The World’s Need for Standardization and Regulation of the “Flushables”
Xinlei Bi. Acabridge Academy. “Technology Development: A Double-edged Sword for Vietnam”
Sophia Wang. Chinese International School. “A Technological Revolution or a Temporary Solution? The Promise and Potential Pitfalls of AI-Powered Education in Refugee Camps”
Yunya Lin. International School of Nanshan Shenzhen. Xingyao Wu. United World College Changshu China. “OilGPT? Big Oil Takes a Big Bet on AI Technology”
Iris Hur. Bergen County Academies. “Seeing Things We Never Imagined: Empowering Girls in Sierra Leone Through Radio”
Qingxi Gan. BASIS International School Shenzhen. “From Pixels to Powder: How
Technology Fuels the Global Drug Epidemic”
Renjian He. Shenzhen College of International Education. “The Ayatollah is Watching: Iran Turns to AI to Enforce Its Morality Laws”
Edward Gao. West Point Grey Academy. “PFAS: Forgotten but Forever”
Qiaoyi Xu. Shanghai American School. “The Application of Blockchain Technology to Seed Intellectual Property Protection”
Anda Lu. Singapore American School. “The Remarkable Journey of Israel's Startup Nation and the Challenges Ahead”
Yinger Zhang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “All Eyes on Tokyo: Why Japan’s Military Modernization is a Game Changer”
Ava Mckee. White Oaks Secondary School. “Revolutionizing Agriculture: Equipping Farmers for the Climate Change Challenge”
Qiyan Su. Culver Academies. “Social Media: New Battlefield against Sexual Harassment in China”
Zheng Zherui. High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. “Leveraging "Internet Plus" to Drive China's Circular Economy”
Zeyu Zhao. Shanghai Pinghe School. “The NPT as a Way to Regulate Military-Based Generative AI”
Nick Shi. Chinese International School. “From Bytes to Battlegrounds: The Geopolitical Battle for AI Ascendancy between China and the United States”
Hiu Hong Zhang. St Swithun's School. “Beyond Science Fiction: The Genomic Revolution Technology That Will Shape Our Future”
Logan Ye. John L. Miller Great Neck North High School. “A Modern Panopticon: The AI Revolution in Policing”
Haasini Kellampalli. Manthan School. “Digitizing Contraceptive Supply Chains: Empowering Women and Saving Lives Across the Developing World”
Justin Wang. Alhambra High School. “Plastic-Degrading Enzymes: A Solution to Beat Pollution”
Hitishaa Goyal. Neerja Modi School. “Online Exploitation: How the Internet Fuels the Surge of Human Trafficking”
Ruojian Zhang. Ready Global Academy. “Chengdu’s Foreign Investment Attraction: A Farce Unmasked by City Rankings”
Junjie Zhang. BASIS International School Park Lane Harbour. “Striving for Solar Power Technologies: India's Key to Curbing Climate Change”
Yulin Lu. Wellington College China Huili School Shanghai. “Fashion and its Impacts on Environment: How Technology Helps Reduce Harms”
Annabelle Yao. The Lawrenceville School. “The Rise of Artificial Intelligence Generated Contents and The Advent of a New Era”
Yuetian Wu. Hangzhou Foreign Language School. “Cobalt Mining: the Human Cost Behind the World’s Green Energy Advancement”
Yicheng Tang. Huili School Shanghai.“Simplistic Sustainability: Is the Electric Vehicle Industry Purely “Green?””
Bronze Medal
Jingran Guo. Shanghai Pinghe School. “Fair Play in the Age of AI: Examining Regulatory and Technical Solutions to Algorithm Bias”
Ethan Zhou. The Bromfield School. “Kazakhstan's Rise: A Balancer in Europe and China's Energy Mix”
Xiaorui Xiong. Shenzhen Middle School. “The Invisible Abyss: The Digital Divide in Education”
Maolun Shu. Veritas Collegiate Academy. “The New Digital Divide: Unveiling AI's Unequal Impact”
Lydia Yu. Hangzhou International School. “Navigating the Bioethical Labyrinth of Genome Editing: Harmonizing Safety, Equity, and the Ethical Terrain of Technological Advancements”
Yuran Li. Guangdong Experimental High School. “Whether it is a new emotional helper: Using online platforms to audit students’ mood in Denmark”
Raymond He. Concord Academy. “The AI Arms Race”
Jihwan Lee. Korea International School (Jeju Campus). “The Not-So-Sunny Side Of Solar Geoengineering”
JinWoo Chun. Pomfret School. “Science and Politics: International Relations Over the Discharge of Radioactive Water of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant”
Nathan He. Ocean Lakes High School. “A New Frontier: How Quantum Technology Reshapes Global Cybersecurity Landscape”
Yuk Kit Donald, Yan. Sendelta International Academy. “FarmGPT: The coming revolution in food security”
Huatong Lai. Flint Hill School. “Dystopia: AI intrusion in global education”
Zhao Ze Charlie Wang. Harrow International School Hong Kong. “A Tech Revolution in Agriculture: Sustainable Farms in the 21st Century”
Shaohang Tong. Auckland Grammar School. “When Two Superpowers Fight, Where Does the Third Stand? Counting the Challenges Confronting the European Union Amid the US-China War on Technology and Its Pragmatic Response”
Zixin Hao. Pinehurst School. “Synthetic Biology: Can Revolutionizing Genetic Engineering Solve the Increasing Starvation in India?”
Mohan Wu. Beijing National Day School. “Unleashing the Potential of Chatbots in Education: Benefits and Roadblocks”
Ming Yuan. Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. “Unseen Crisis: Environmental Hazards of Space Debris”
Xin Zeng. YK Pao School. “The Impact of Organoid Intelligence on Cybersecurity through the Lens of Artificial Intelligence”
Ziang Huang. Shenzhen College of International Education. “A Fragile Veneer of
Democracy: Post-Colonial Africa’s Unending Struggle for True Freedom”
Jasmine Wu. Guangdong Country Garden School. “3D Printing & the Circular Economy”
Pinqi Jiao. The Masters School. “The Dangers of Virtual Time Traveling: How AI is Threatening the Credibility of Photojournalism”
Yeju Seol. Cheongshim International Academy. “Africa: The Future Hub for Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology?”
Jiayuan Yan. Beijing No.80 High School. “The Commercial Empire Leading our Time: Nvidia's Dominance in Artificial Intelligence”
Panwei Chang. Zhengzhou Foreign Language School New Fengyang Campus. “Is ChatGPT the Last Straw That Crushes the Humanities Education?”
Valentina Xie. International School of Florence. “Global Corporate Greed: Tax Dodging and its Hidden Costs on Global Poverty”
Xinyan Li. Shanghai Weiyu High School. “The First Octopus Farm: A Debate about Animal Sentience at the Dinner Table”
Bangkai Xiong. Shenzhen Middle School. “Agriculture in Timor-Leste: The History and Possibilities of a Country Made Mindful”
Yifan Jia. Appleby College. “Rethinking the Past and Future: Indigenous Technology in an Ever-Changing World"
Anne Zhong. The Bishop Strachan School. “Space Debris: The Underestimated Gravity of Space Junk”
Seojin Lee. Seoul Global High School. “Harnessing Innovation: Solving World Hunger with Technology”
Bu Quan. Shenzhen Middle School. “Space Debris: A Cause of Concern in Need of
Immediate Remedies”
Yizhen Sun. United World College of Changshu, China. “Sowing the Seeds of Change: Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Agro-technology”
Yue Fan Chen. Hangzhou International School. “Metamorphosing Education: Pioneering Technological Advancements as the Propeller of Progress in South Sudan”
Joohyun Hong. Seoul Scholars International. “The Role of Technological Advancements in Reducing Unemployment”
Wenyue Zhu. Kings College School. “The Grid of The Future: HVDC Technology and the Green Energy Transition”
Ruosia Lu. Shanghai SMIC Private School. “The Lunar New World: Possibilities and Perils”
Zuen Huang. Shanghai Experimental Foreign Language School. “Lending a Helping Hand: How Technology Start-ups Solve the Prosthetics Issue in India”
Emily Pan. Concordia International School Shanghai. “Birds of a Feather: How Foreign Ties Crippled the Success of Tik Tok and Facebook in the United States”
Yue Huang. Kingswood Oxford School. “Special Needs Education for the Mentally Disabled in China: A Hidden Story”
Jiaxuan Cai. Basis International Park Lane Harbor. “Why AI is the Next Women's Rights Issue”
Qianyan Xiao. Rugby School. “Behind States Banning Wechat: Innovation, Surveillance, and Personal Privacy in the Digital Age”
Wutong Wei. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. “The Frenzy of AI Chatbot: A New Threat to Democracy Education”
Jianwei Man. Shenzhen College of International Education. “Why Contraceptives are the Key to a Prosperous Africa?”
Donghyun Kang. Portsmouth Abbey. “Climate Change and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Africa”
Qingren Kong. YK PAO School. “Made of 0s and 1s: Why We Should Accept AI-Created Artwork”
Yiru Lucy Wang. Portsmouth Abbey School. “Where Everything Begins: How Technology Uncovers the Truth about Our Supply Chains”
Chang Ni. Shanghai Jianping Educational Center of International Curriculum. “Technological Advances: Catalysts for Workplace Surveillance”
Zihan Zeng. Hangzhou Greentown Yuhua School. “Invasive Digital Species: Sino-US Competition in Africa”
Yimeng Xu. Vanke Meisha Academy. “A Look Into Chile’s Plan to Nationalize Its Lithium Industry”
Qianzhi Luo. Hangzhou No.14 High School. “AI, Rights and Open Politics”
Yunan Bai. Beijing 101 High School International Department. “Farm to Table in the Digital Era”
Jiatong Chen. Shenzhen College of International Education. “An Uneven Transition: Unequal Access to Transgender Medicine Worldwide”
Zihan Li. Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. “The Undervalued Prospect of AI”
Weicheng Xu. Shanghai Yichuan High School. “From the Earth to the Mars: Will SpaceX Enable Humans to Take Interstellar Trips in the Future”
Xiner Chen. Shanghai WeiYu International School. “Sleeping Our Way to a Better Future”
Xige Hao. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. “Share the Green: US Trying to Break China’s Dominance in Critical Minerals and Electric Vehicles”
Yufei Chen. Beijing 101 Middle School. “Flatter is the World, More Curved is the Space: Weaving a Safety Net for a World Distorted by Technological Advancement”