After several years of dormancy, the Harvard French Review made its long-awaited return in the 2024–2025 academic year.

Founded by Harvard students in 2005, the Review seeks to deepen intellectual and cultural ties between France and the United States by providing a platform for students, scholars, and public figures to reflect on issues that concern one or both countries.

The Review has had the honor of publishing contributions from a former French President, ministers, ambassadors, the founder of the World Economic Forum, as well as renowned writers, journalists, and academics.

The 2024–2025 edition, the first since 2007, comes at a time of significant social transformation on both sides of the Atlantic. While remaining true to its founding spirit, this new edition introduces a fully bilingual format, a broader range of themes, and a refined structure built around three sections:

• Regards Croisés presents reflections by Harvard students and alumni on major developments in French and American public life.

• Grands Témoins features essays and interviews with leading voices from politics, academia, and the media, exploring social issues that resonate across both countries.

• Invitation au Voyage, a nod to French poet Baudelaire, offers a space for creative freedom, featuring literary works, artistic contributions, and personal expressions across genres.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Fabrice Seiman, co-founder of the Review, for his guidance and generous support throughout this relaunch. We are equally grateful to all those who contributed to this edition—through their writing, commitment, or encouragement.

We are thrilled to bring this publication back to life and hope it inspires new conversations across cultures.

The Harvard French Review team

Message from the founder

Twenty years.

Twenty years already. For two decades, our project has been driven by a single conviction: ideas precede history and shape its course. As the world bends under the weight of multiple crises, as certainties crumble and fears resurface, transatlantic dialogue has never been more essential. It is, in fact, vital.

When the Harvard French Review was founded in 2005, it answered a need: to create a space of intellectual freedom where the great voices of our time could engage with the young researchers of today—those who will shape the world of tomorrow. In this laboratory of ideas, where visions clash and perspectives evolve, free spirits have relentlessly questioned the present, challenged dogmas, and reimagined the realm of possibility.

Two decades later, this ambition remains as urgent as ever. We live in an age of upheaval—a moment when democracies falter, technology reshapes the very fabric of politics, and cultural divides deepen. Understanding what is at stake, anticipating what lies ahead, and forging new paths—without complacency, without compromise—this is the responsibility we will continue to uphold.

This anniversary edition is not merely a retrospective but a gateway to the future. What new equilibrium will emerge between Europe and America? How can we reinvent democracy in an age of artificial intelligence and all-powerful algorithms? What role will culture play in a world where information is fractured and truth contested?

History doesn’t repeat itself; it hesitates, stumbles, accelerates. Twenty years of debate, commitment, and shared ideas. Twenty years of a Review that, in every era, has captured the pulse of its time. Now, it is up to you to write the next chapter—let reason and freedom resonate on both sides of the Atlantic.