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. 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, the Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest was created to encourage and highlight outstanding high school writing on topics related to international affairs.
Congratulations to all Summer 2021 medal winners on the quality of your submissions! You can read the winning submissions below.
Gold Medal
Eva Zhong.Shekou International School. “The Masked Crisis: COVID-19 And The Environment”
Yichen Luo. BASIS International School Guangzhou. “Divergent Political Systems, Convergent COVID Strategies”
Yinglun Ma.The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.“Developing Countries Under COP26: Neocolonialism?”
Ahaan Jindal. Dhirubhai Ambani International School.“Of influence and ulterior motives—the Iran-Saudi proxy conflict and what its escalation means”
Saki Maeda. Senzoku Gakuen Junior High School.“Taiwan: No Longer Alone in a Globalized World”
Silver Medal
Yuansi Li.Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy.“Commercial Surrogacy: Where is the Boundary of harm to women?”
Ren Deng.BASIS International School Guangzhou. “African-Americans in China: A Shifting Cultural Dynamics”
Tiantian Ye and Enzhe Yin.North Cross School Shanghai.“The German Case: A Torchbearer of the European Union’s War on White Pollution”
Xiyan Pu.Chengdu Jiaxiang Foreign Languages School. Jiaying Wu.Jinan Foreign Language School.“Sanitary, Sustainable, and Sino: China’s Waste Ban's Impact on the Global Economy and Recycling Industry”
Xuanchen Qian.Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School.“Climate Refugees of Fukushima: A Lens to Environmental Responsibility”
Xinyun Ma.YK Pao School.“A Battle of Wits: Human Trafficking Under COVID-19 Pandemic”
Zilin Fang.YK Pao School.How Alibaba's PR Team “Cleans Up the Mess”
Yandi Wu.Rabun Gap Nacoochee School.“Social Media and Hate Crimes: How Are They Related?”
Shihong Zhu.Shanghai Southwest Weiyu Middle School.“With Prevalence of TikTok, Will We Have Talented Musicians after 2030?”
Sizhe Zhou and Keying Liu.Guangdong Experimental High School.“Unheeded Marginalization: Nation, University, and International Students”
Raymond Zhao.Morris Hills High School.“China’s Growing Super Grid: The Case for a Future Built on Renewable Energy”
Benjamin Manens. Bellarmine College Preparatory.“The Trade Deal Gone South”
Vishal Rameshbabu. James Clemens High School.“Abandoning The Sahel: An Insurgency Left Unmitigated”
Haochen Wang. Auckland International College.“Markets, Finances, and Covid-19: Athletes' Other Barbells”
Gabriella Naveh. Taylor Allderdice High School.“When the World is No Longer Watching: The Abduction of Nigeria’s Children”
Siyu Li.The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University.“Legitimating the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: an analysis of China’s rhetorical strategies.”
Bronze Medal
Jiaxin Zhang.Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School.“Take the Anxiety Out of Social Anxiety: Artificial Intelligence and Big Data”
Ying Feng and Taiyu Li.Tangshan No.1 Middle School.“Hear the unheard: Cuba's repression of human rights for decades”
Shuo Feng.Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School.“Anti-affirmative action: The Modern Discrimination in Disguise”
Lingzhen Wang.North Cross School Shanghai.“The Gray Area of Law: Tech Giants’ Censorship and the Economy”
Han Bao.Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School.“Behind the Release of Radioactive Waters: Questioning Motives”
Yiduo Qian.Shanghai Southwest Weiyu Middle School.“Neglected Education Crisis: Teacher Shortage”
Yanran Ma.Nanjing Foreign Language School.“Between Earth and Us: Influence of Media Discourse on Environmentalism”
Aoxi Tu.Wuhan SanNew School.“COVID-19 and Repatriation: the Catalyst For the Occident-China Tension?”
Weilan Hu and Yuxu Chen.Guangdong Shunde Desheng School.“Is the Arctic Becoming the Globe's New Trading Center?”
Feier Shen.Shanghai Weiyu International School.“A brighter future and beyond—how international students make the United States stronger at home”
Hangfei Lyv and Jingyi Zhang.Guangdong Shunde Desheng School.“Women’s Helplessness: The encounter of Nepalese Immigrant Women”
Ziyan Li and Zhuolu Pan.BASIS International School Guangzhou. “COVID-19 in the United States: World wide Influence.”
Shaojing Xie.Guangdong Experimental High School.“Women-Only Metro Carriage in Guangzhou: What’s the point?”
Ran Zhao.Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School.“Educational Involution in China: The Intensified and Wasteful Competition”
Jing Feng.Guangdong Experimental High School.“Globalization vs Isolation”
Jingxuan Tian.Tangshan No.1 Middle School.“Technology plays an important role in sports: The development of technology in the Olympics”
Xiaomeng Ye.Hefei No.8 Senior High School.“Aging society in China”
Yecheng Yue.Shanghai United International school,Wanyuan Campus.“Pros and cons of education for low income families”
Tanvi Chaudhary. Kentucky Country Day.“Dementia’s Nordic Nation Fascination”
Veronica Chang. Burlington High School.“Sea Cucumbers: The Earthworm of the Sea is in Grave Danger”
Jin Schofield and Sarvnaz Ale Mohammad.St. Robert Catholic High School.“Re-Examining the Legacy of Fukuyama and His Critics in the Internet Age”
Taryn Murphy. Mount Saint Mary Academy.“Vaccine Diplomacy: Lifesaving or a Geopolitical Force?”
Seokhyun Baek. Gyeonggi Suwon International School.“Disputed borders with Pakistan and India regarding China”
Skyler Zhou. Wayland High School.“Climate Change: A Situational Relationship”