The Harvard Kennedy School’s student-run journal is now the HKS Student Policy Review, and its latest articles, published through Sept. 30, 2026, argue over the future of the transatlantic alliance, medical device safety, European defense, AI in government and U.S. policy toward Latin America. This report summarizes what the HKS Student Policy Review is discussing now, with every point attributed and linked. The articles are opinion and analysis by students, not positions of Harvard or the Kennedy School.
Which Harvard Kennedy School Journal Is Active?
The older titles have been folded into one platform. According to the review’s About page, the Kennedy School’s student publications program began in 1985 with the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy and grew to more than a dozen publications by 2023. In summer 2023 the Shorenstein Center began building the HKS Student Policy Review, which accepts work on any policy topic, region or country. It is administratively housed at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, while the student editorial team operates independently.
The Kennedy School Review and the Journal of Hispanic Policy now appear as archives. The site’s past editions page lists Hispanic Policy volumes through Volume 34 (2021–22), and its Journal of Hispanic Policy archive page describes the journal as having focused on policy affecting Latinx and Hispanic communities. We found no 2026 volume of either. The hkr.hks.harvard.edu address did not load for us on Oct. 2, so this report relies on the Student Policy Review.
HKS Student Policy Review: Transatlantic and European Security
- The Transatlantic Alliance Isn’t Dead. Treating It That Way Could Make It So. (Eva Savin and Yiannis Korkovelos, Sept. 30): Leaders of the Kennedy School’s European Club describe a student trip to Washington and argue that talk of a broken alliance overlooks day-to-day cooperation. They cite €2.24 trillion in U.S.-owned EU investment stock at the end of 2024, €2.67 trillion of EU investment in the U.S., energy ties and more than 16 million jobs, and warn that the perception of collapse could become self-fulfilling.
- Europe Can’t Buy Security Without Rebuilding Its Military Culture (Elif Memet, July 10): The author contrasts the visible civic role of the military in the United States with Europe’s distance from it, and argues that rearmament needs public legitimacy and not only budgets and procurement. The author notes survey data showing about a third of Europeans want no increase or a cut in defense spending.
- Building a Stable Syria: The Omani Model (Christian Voelker, July 1): Using Oman as a case study and Yemen as a counterexample, the article says stability rests on four mechanisms: a civic national identity, economic interdependence, predictable legal enforcement and inclusive leadership. It applies them to post-Assad Syria.
Technology, AI Governance and Health Policy
- Americans Are Becoming the Guinea Pigs for Medical Devices (Liam Chai, Sept. 25): Marking 50 years of the FDA’s 510(k) pathway, the author argues that approval by “equivalence” to older devices can compound safety problems. The piece contrasts the EU’s 2017 Medical Device Regulation with U.S. incremental reforms, cites FDA staffing cuts, and calls for putting stronger evidence requirements into law.
- The Silent Algorithm: Why U.S. Public AI Needs Democratic Guardrails (Omri Attar, May 27): The author cites a federal inventory of more than 3,600 AI use cases across 57 agencies and proposes public registries, mandatory impact assessments and training for civil servants.
- Toward More Science, Less “Art” in Medicine (Joel Adu-Brimpong, Aug. 6): The essay argues that as diagnostics and therapies improve, more of what clinicians call the “art” of medicine becomes measurable, leaving human connection as the part that remains. It points to GLP-1 drugs and AI therapy trials as examples.
- Wrangling with Explosive AI Growth (David Weidman, Feb. 1): The article compares AI’s growth with earlier growth events such as industrialization and the internet, and suggests policymakers borrow from reliability thinking used in fields like aviation.
These themes overlap with debates we have covered, including Bill Gates pressing Congress on AI regulation and the FTC probe into OpenAI and Anthropic.
Latin America, Social Policy and More Student Research
- Why Marshall, Not Monroe, Best Serves U.S. Interests in Latin America (Alexa Kalach and Max Lasco, March 29): Writing after what they describe as the January U.S. removal of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, the authors argue for a partnership-based, Marshall Plan-style approach rather than a Monroe Doctrine-style one. The piece carries a disclaimer that it does not reflect official U.S. government or Defense Department positions.
- To Prevent Violence in Schools in India, We Must Invest in Boys (Akshay Narayanan, May 27): After a fatal school stabbing in Ahmedabad, the author argues surveillance treats symptoms and that programs should address why boys turn to violence.
Other recent titles in the archive include a piece on Russia’s peace talks (Feb. 13), a commentary on cash transfers (Feb. 24), a Wisconsin policy memo on crisis pregnancy centers (Feb. 28), a call for a safety net for older workers (Jan. 14).
What the Pattern Shows
Across these pieces, three threads recur: how institutions keep public trust when systems change (alliances, regulators, algorithms), how security and economic policy interact, and how rapid technology shifts strain existing rules. The review sorts its work under topics including Business and Government, Democracy and Institutions, Economic and Political Development, International and Global Affairs, and Social and Urban Policy. Posting is occasional rather than daily, with the latest item dated Sept. 30, 2026.
Related Harvard coverage on The Boston Report: Harvard EEOC lawsuit targets faculty hiring records.
Sources: public pages at the HKS Student Policy Review and its articles linked above, accessed Oct. 2, 2026. Views belong to the student authors. Summaries are ours; read the originals for full arguments and citations.