The Rotating Foreign Summit is a collaboration between the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative and future policy leaders at a foreign university. This collaboration takes place in the form of a multi-day conference centered around urgent policy issues concerning our two countries. The conference involves the exchange of policy ideas, dialogues, and debates on the most pressing foreign policy issues in the world, and the reception of political figures and ambassadors to speak.
For inquiries on our Rotating Foreign Summit, please contact summits@harvardforeignpolicy.org.
Rome 2024
From March 12 – March 14, 2024, HUFPI will be traveling to Rome to host a Foreign Summit with American University of Rome’s International Relations and Global Politics club (IRGP). Titled “Not a Migration Crisis, a Migration Reality”, this summit will focus on international migration through highlighting the voices of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers and reframing the issue in historical terms while acknowledging that this reality cannot be ignored.
The Summit will highlight how international migration is and will remain a global phenomenon, while dedicating specific focus to various geographical regions and international migration pathways through workshops, field trips and debates. Delegates can expect to further address prevalent legal frameworks and definitions of international migration and seek to promote more human-centered rhetoric to accompany current debates on the issue. Our goal is not only to broaden their knowledge but also to cultivate critical thinking skills that will enable them to navigate beyond simplistic narratives and engage with the complexities inherent in the global phenomenon of migration.
Istanbul 2024
From May 15th-May 18th, 2024, HUFPI will be traveling to Istanbul to host a Foreign Summit with Boğaziçi University. At the conference, participants can expect to participate in a comprehensive and transformative discussion about the importance of multilateralism in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The conference will focus on three specific areas where collaboration across borders will be key in the coming years: defense, energy, and migration. Each area of focus will feature several individualized speaker events and workshops.
One of HUFPI’s core goals in hosting the conference is creating an environment where diverse, insightful, and impactful discussion can take place. This is highlighted not only through the wide variety of perspectives represented at the conference and the presence of professors with cutting edge research and policy work, but also through the conference’s core values: excellence, diversity, and innovation. At the conference, participants can expect to gain invaluable insights and enjoy a powerful experience alongside future global leaders.
Past Summits
Seoul 2023
From Wednesday, May 17th, 2023, to Sunday, May 21st, 2023, a delegation of HUFPI members will be traveling to Seoul to embark on a cultural exchange and learn more about East Asian and US-Korea relations. This experience will be more interactive and interpersonal than HUFPI’s typical conferences, involving inter-student exchange and dialogue, mentorship from experts, and explorations of Seoul’s political and cultural history through on-site visits and experiences.
One of the fixtures of a Foreign Summit is the ability to expand the way we think about issues and develop relationships with people whose life experiences differ from our own. We hope to extend this principle throughout our cultural exchange, whether through dialogues with South Korean college students in debates and roundtables; speaking with and hearing from prominent foreign policy experts, academics, and professionals; and deepening our familiarity with Korea’s most historically and culturally significant sites, as well as places that are important to Korea’s relationship with the U.S.
While the cultural exchange will last for four days, it is our hope that delegates will carry the lessons they learn—whether regarding U.S.-South Korea relations, Korean culture, or the fabric of Korean society—with them for a lifetime.
Paris 2023
From January 12 to January 14, 2023, HUFPI will be hosting a joint Foreign Summit with the Sciences Po Policy Project (SP3) Network at Sciences Po. At this Summit, we gathered global leaders in diplomacy, foreign affairs, business, and international development to foster discussion of the matters to the relationship between France and the United States, as well as the broader international community.
Alongside invited speakers and student delegations from our respective organizations, we invited students from across France and Europe to attend the conference and hear from world leaders and experts about global issues, such as climate change and international terrorism. Not only was this Summit a unique cultural and educational exchange between students of our two world-leading universities, but it was also an opportunity for Sciences Po and other institutions’ students to gain exposure to foreign policy issues and hear from renowned experts.
We watched as students engaged with phenomenal speakers and asked questions to shift their perspectives on the world. We learned about French-American relations through a number of key topics, including climate and the environment, defense, media and technology. In each event, we featured a number of wonderful speakers, without whom the Summit would not have been possible.