News from Perry World House

Climate change is already fundamentally reshaping where and how we live. Join Perry World House for a conversation with Jesse M. Keenan on his new book, North: The Future of Post-Climate America (Oxford University Press).

North offers a critical reframing of adaptation science and the role that people, markets, and public institutions play in shaping human mobility and the capacity of American communities to adapt. With fast-moving markets and slow-moving governments, everyday people are caught in the crosshairs. While some will seek to preserve the status quo, others will relocate from places that are increasingly uninhabitable, too risky, or too expensive for permanent settlement. As the era of Sun Belt migration comes to an end and climate impacts accelerate, everything from local relocations to transcontinental climate migrations are already well underway.

At the same time, new geographies of opportunity are receiving zones for those who are seeking a more sustainable and less precarious way of life. North is not just a collection of scientific observations and projections about America’s future in the face of climate change. It is also a projection of optimism about America’s capacity for decarbonization, environmental stewardship, and population mobility.

The discussion will explore how shifting climates are altering the physical and demographic landscape of the United States, creating a new era of migration, market adaptation, and transformed electoral politics.

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, join Perry World House and the Wyss Medical Foundation for an urgent conversation with military trauma surgeons and strategic experts working to save lives on the frontlines of this war.

Drawing on firsthand experience from Ukraine’s battlefields, these experts will discuss trauma care as critical medical response—but also as a strategic imperative that can shape military outcomes. They will unpack how battlefield medicine can drive operational success, strengthen deterrence, and even serve as a form of soft power and diplomacy.

Looking to the future, they will ask what policy reforms are needed to translate the lessons learned in Ukraine into long-term preparedness—ensuring that conflict and mass casualty events are met with the speed and precision needed to save lives at home and abroad.

Throughout the world, corruption props up dictators, energizes criminal organizations, diverts resources from economic development, and corrodes public trust. Corruption contributes to leaving millions around the world insecure and impoverished. In today’s globalized world, corruption crosses borders: billions of dollars flow illicitly through the international financial system, bribes pass between countries, and authoritarian regimes—from Russia to China to Iran—weaponize corruption to achieve their objectives.

US administrations for decades have paid attention to fighting the problem of global corruption. For example, in 2021, the Biden administration called fighting corruption a “Core United States National Security Interest” and developed a strategy to implement it. The second Trump administration has effectively dismantled many of the programs designed to fight corruption, kleptocracy, and bribery abroad.

What is the current state of global anti-corruption efforts? How does today’s corruption affect global democracy? Do efforts to combat corruption—like sanctions—help, or do they exacerbate problems? What steps should government and civil society take to push back on corrupt actors without the U.S. in the lead?

Perry World House returned to the Munich Security Conference by hosting its second side event. After hosting its first side event in 2025, PWH brought together over 20 leading foreign affairs and national security practitioners and academics.

The event addressed critical issues for future investments in conventional and nuclear deterrence and featured PWH Faculty Director Michael C. Horowitz, MIT Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security and Political Science Vipin Narang. Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan moderated the discussion.

Additionally, PWH’s Penn International Climate Observatory hosted an event on the sidelines of the conference alongside the U.N. Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on climate intelligence and strategic preparedness. PWH Distinguished Global Leader and former Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeckdelivered keynote remarks.

2025-26 Thakore Visiting Fellow and Director General of the International Organization for Migration Amy Pope was recently featured on the Foreign Affairs Interview podcast discussing the state of the global immigration system.

Without action, Pope warns of “more social unrest, more inequality,” and “more abuse and exploitation” of the world’s most vulnerable populations.