HIR Academic Writing Contest Summer 2022 Medal Winners

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 Summer 2022 medal winners on the quality of your submissions!

Gold Medal

Qiran Sun.Nanjing Foreign Language School.Why the Visit? A Case Study of the Semiconductor Supply Chain in East Asia, Arena of Potential Sino-US Conflict”

May Tong.International School of Beijing. The Rise of Shrimp: A Holistic Look at Shrimp Farming in Southeast Asia”

Yirui Cui.Mannahouse Christian Academy. Children’s Education in Ethiopia: Problems, Reasons and Solutions”

Siyu Liu.Shenzhen College of International Education. Local Teachers Are the Key to Tackle Chad's Educational Challenges”

Nianjia Yang.Beijing 101 High School. Behind Ashes of War: Elderly Women in Ukraine and Their Future”

Siwen Cui. Kent School. Re-enchanting the Disenchanted: Weaving a New Environmental Scheme with Indigenous Wisdom”

Yinglin Fang.Shenzhen College International Education. The Other Pandemic: How Sexual Slavery is Spreading in the Age of Globalization”

Guohao Lv. Basis International School Park Lane Harbour. China's Three-child Policy, an Effective Solution for an Upcoming Labor Crisis or a Problem-solution Mismatch”

Haoyang Wu. BASIS International School Hangzhou. Sri Lanka: Cautionary Tale for Developing Agricultural Economies”

Huirong Yang. Overseas School of Colombo. Sri Lanka’s Food Shortage: The Surprising Role of Organic Farming”

Ella (Jiyeon) Seo. Trafalgar Castle School. “The Inconvenient Truth Behind ‘Gangnam Style’: The Flooding of South Korea’s Most Expensive District”

Luyu Yue. BASIS International School Park Lane Harbour. Building a Better Future: Sustainable Materials in Construction”

Silver Medal

Taiyang Zhang. Institute Le Rosey. The Dark Horse, Cause of Carbon Emissions in the Global Agriculture Industry”

Alphonsus Koong. St. Andrew's Junior College. Beneath the Surface: The Hidden Cost of Competition in the South China Sea”

Yuanyin Luo. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. Ethiopia’s Food Crisis: at the Crux of Political and Natural Disasters”

Fabiha Afifa. Maple Leaf International School. Continued Arctic Exploration: Possible Route to the Second Cold War, Definite Threat to the Planet”

Jiale Yang. Fountain Valley School of Colorado. Japan’s Discharge of Radioactive Seawater: A Disruption to Earth’s Ecological Balance and International Law”

Congyun Liao. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Peru Oil Spills: The Le Chatelier Principle of Environment and Economy

Kevin Wang.Concordia International School Shanghai. Why Russia, not Turkey, Won the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War”

Zhihao Chen. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. The Faults in Our Star(link)s: The Environmental Complications of SpaceX’s Starlink Program”

Emma He. Wuhan Yangtze International School. Rewriting History: Analyzing the Legality of Detaining Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang Internment Camps”

Kongyang Zhu. UWC Changshu. "My Country and I": Investigating Xenophobia in Chinese Patriotic Education Campaigns

Coco Cai.Orange County American High School. Ocean Dead Zones: Why a Small Town in England is the Latest Victim of a Global Catastrophe”

Ziang Lu. Shanghai High School International Division. The Chinese Student Crisis”

Yiyi Xu. Shanghai United International School Gubei Campus. Sex, Class, and Caste: A Look at Gender Quotas in India”

Yuqing Hua. Rutgers Preparatory School. Woods, Water, and Wildlife: Forgotten Casualties of the Russia-Ukraine War”

Sixing Qian.Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. A Bluer Ocean: How the Relationship Between China and Norway is Influencing Sustainable Salmon Aquaculture”

Yuetong Zhou,Zihao Pan.Shenzhen College of International Education. Is Ukraine being robbed of its soul?”

Vaasav Gupta. Watchung Hills Regional High School. The Environmental and Economic Counterproductivity of the US-China Solar Trade War”

Zaizai Wang.Hangzhou foreign language school. Stigma Crisis in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic”

Ashir Rao. Los Gatos High School. South Asian Economic Union: Path to Regional Sustainability”

Qiuqiu Bao. Ross School. The Global Chip Shortage and Sustainable Growth Across Industries”

Amy Mao.Lauriston Girls' School. GMO FARMING: Is It Our Salvation or Annihilation?”

Haolin Duan. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. The Turbulent Present and Future of the Global Semiconductor Industry”

Yangxi Gao. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Education in Rural China: The Link between Gender Gap and Son Preference”

Jiayi Wu. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. There And (Not) Back Again: Human Rights For Displaced Workers Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative Program”

Zimeng Huang.Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. Protect the Hwamei: How Chinese Traditions Have Endangered the Bird Species”

Aidana Maidanova. Abbey College Cambridge. Singing on Q: The role of contemporary Kazakh language music in national identity building among Kazakhstani youth”

Hanjiang Ye.Jianlan Middle School. Cuba’s Solitary Battle: The Unseen Isolation of US Sanctions”

Kwong Yu Sun. Chiway Repton School Xiamen. Updates on GMO Dialogue Developments in the US and Europe”

Xinran Cao. The Stony Brook School. The Hidden Dilemma: Disabled Women’s Healthcare Challenges in the United States”

Kunyang Liu. The Experimental high school attached to Beijing Normal University. Artificial Intelligence: Assessing the Risks”

Boren Zhang. Shenzhen Foreign Language School. The Mapuche Conflict: Shedding Light on the Global Struggle for Indigenous Rights”

Bronze Medal

Songying Li.Zhengzhou Foreign Language School. Sustainable Living, Corporate Interests”

Zihan Yang. China World Academy. The Positive impacts of the Refugee Crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine”

Yuchang Hu. Shanghai Pinghe School. Cutting the Pipeline: Dismantling Juvenile Delinquency and Achieving Sustainable Personal and Societal Development”

Zixuan Zhang.International Department, The Affiliated High School of SCNU. New Way of Communist China's Propaganda”

Cunyan Ma.Shanghai High School International Division. Gender Violence in Tangshan: Fear, Antagonism, and Solutions”

Manyi Ma. North Cedar Academy. Dissipated or Dispersed? Re-examining China’s Carbon Footprint”

Yuxuan Xie.Shenzhen Middle School. Strict Plastic Bans: A Shaky Step Towards Sustainability”

Liyu Chen.Living Word Shanghai. "200 Meters Deep" and the Earth

Sunny Wu.Keystone Academy. Food Crisis’s Implications on Egypt Women Under the Gender Discrimination: Solutions Respond”

Zi Xuan, Wang (Chloe). Beijing Saint Paul American School. Gun Violence: A Significant Obstacle between Racial Minorities and Fair Education in the United States”

Yuanhao Yang.Beijing National Day School. The Democracy in Africa: Unfit Models and Misplaced Help”

Zengxi Huang. Beijing Luhe International Academy. Xi Yang. High School affiliated to Shaanxi Normal University. Lessons from Sri Lanka's bankruptcy —— Emerging markets are in a crisis of neglect.”

Selina Tang. Boston Latin School. Environmental Law: Filling the Emissions and Political Gap”

Max Guan. Phillips Academy. The California EV Mandate: A Glimpse of the New Norm”

Yuxin Yang. Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. Beyond E-Learning: How Education Programs Harness the Power of Technology”

Yuanle Zhu. UWC Changshu China. Lingering Nationalism Among New Generations in China and South Korea”

Angela Yuhan Zhang, Lucy Lu. Shanghai High School International Division. Perpetuated Problems in the Forgotten Corner: Economic and Representational Aftermaths of the Rwandan Genocide”

Jiatong Shen. United World College Changshu China. The Predicament of Ethnic Minorities During COVID-19: A Glance at Hmong Americans”

Xinyu Yuan. Shanghai Guanghua Cambridge international School. Short-Term Solution or Long-Term Problem? The Quiet Growth of New Oil Drilling”

Cecilia Lu.Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual School. Aging and Health”

Chengze Lyu. Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School. Star Power: Solving the World's Energy Demands with Fusion”

Hanfei Zhao. Singapore American School. Teaching Harmony to Combat Nationalism”

Eason Yang. Trinity College School. Pitch-Black Teeth: A Wicked Curse and A Harbinger of Change”

Felicity Wong. Milton Academy. Emma Chen.Hangzhou International School. Exterminating Invasive Starfish: a Multilateral and Multidisciplinary Approach to Saving Life Below and Above Water”

Jian Liu. Nansha College Preparatory Academy. Is selling air becoming a real business?”

Ruinan Mao. Basis International School Hangzhou. Another Group Without A Voice: Children Face Inhabitable Earth”

Benjamin Luo.Middlesex School. The New Cold War”

Liangyu Sun. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. Reimagining the Silk Road: The “Digiscape” of Culture and Commerce”

Hengrui Zhu. Basis International School Park Lane Harbour. How Biodegradable Packaging Saves the Day”

Xinyue Yao.Shenzhen College of International Education. History Repeats Itself: Monkeypox and the Stigma Risks in the United States”

Funing Fan. Beijing 101 High School. The Impact of China’s Zero-COVID Policy on Environment”

Zhilin Zhai. The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University. Community Supported Agriculture: A Novel Method for Addressing Food Production and Transportation Limitations”

Jiamin Song. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. China’s Vocational Schools: Local Policies with Global Implications”

Wanwen Huang. International Department (HFI), Affiliated High School of South China Normal University. Urban Slums in the Global South-Guangzhou Urban Village”

Chang Zhou. Sandy Spring Friends School. Burned by Poverty: The Unequal Impact of Climate Change”

Su Liu.Shenzhen College of International Education. Fighting Illegal Deforestation in the Amazon”

Jing Liu. Nansha College Preparatory Academy. Rural STEAM Education: A Pathway to an Innovative Economy”

Ruipeng Zhuang. Basis International School Parklane Harbour. Illuminating the Darkest Corner: Stopping Human Trafficking through Education”

Zitong Xia. Desheng School (International). Conflict Headed Trade Crisis: The Russia-Ukraine Conflict Threatens A Fragile Recovery In Global Trade”

Ziao Wang. Beijing World Youth Academy. IMF in Pakistan: Sucess or Faliure?”

Bingcheng Hu. Basis International School Park Lane Harbor. Future Energy Trend”

XiangShen Yin. ZWIE World Academy. What zero-Tolerance Policy Does To Global Travel Industry”

Muhammad Alvin Ibnu Raffy, Nasya Nisrina Zahira. MAN 2 Kota Malang. Palm Oil Diplomacy Spectacle: Potentials, Concerns, and Disputes”