Samantha Power and Libya Policy

The human-rights activist as presidential adviser

Samantha Power

The New York Times reports that Samantha Power, J.D. '99—former executive director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, and now at the National Security Council—has an important influence on President Barack Obama's policy toward U.S. military involvement in Libya. 

Read Jennifer Leaning's review of Power's acclaimed book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide. Harvard Magazine also published "Fixing Foreign Policy," an essay adapted from Power's 2005-2006 Maurine and Robert Rothschild Lecture (delivered under the auspices of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study)—a critique of the country's international engagements at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Finally, Power's Harvard Law School Class Day address from 2010 is available as well.

Sub topics

You might also like

Five Questions with Cass R. Sunstein

The Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar on what Star Wars can tell us about today’s Supreme Court

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Harvard Renames Diversity Office

The decision follows pressure from the Trump administration to eliminate DEI practices. 

Most popular

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Harvard Renames Diversity Office

The decision follows pressure from the Trump administration to eliminate DEI practices. 

The New Gender Gaps

What to do as men and boys fall behind

Explore More From Current Issue

The Trump Administration's Impact on Higher Education

Unprecedented federal actions against research funding, diversity, speech, and more

89664

Jessica Shand—Math and Music at Harvard

Jessica Shand blends math and music.

89677

Paper Peepshows at Harvard's Baker Library

How “paper peepshows” brought distant realms to life

89684