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ANALYSIS

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The Future of Pakistan

A Conversation with Simon Shercliff and Hassan Abbas.

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UPCOMING EVENT

Nov 10: Prospects for the Upcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen: Seminar with Ambassador Friis Petersen

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Summer 2009

"Hard Decisions on Soft Power: Opportunities and Difficulties for Chinese Soft Power"

Harvard International Review, issue 2, volume 31

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Wang Jisi

"But just as China's economic and military power does not yet match that of the United States, China's soft power still has a long way to go as demonstrated by a Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll. China does not have cultural industries like Hollywood, and its universities are not yet the equal of the United States. It lacks the many non-governmental organizations that generate much of US soft power. Politically, China suffers from corruption, inequality, and a lack of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. While that may make the "Beijing consensus" attractive in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian developing countries, it undercuts China's soft power in the West. Although China's new diplomacy has enhanced its attractiveness to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, the belligerence of its hard power stance toward Taiwan hurt it in Europe when China sought to persuade Europeans to relax their embargo on the sale of arms. Given the domestic problems that China must still overcome, there are limits to China's ability to attract others, but one would be foolish to ignore the gains the country is making."

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Summer 2009

"Testing the NATO Alliance: Afghanistan and the Future of Cooperation"

Harvard International Review, issue 2, volume 31

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"...[O]n the ground, Afghanistan does not look like a NATO mission, but a deployment of an ad hoc alliance. This impression is bolstered given that eight non-NATO countries are also contributing troops. This arrangement calls into question how genuine and useful the alliance will be in the future. It is no good to argue that NATO countries should share the burden more equally. That will not be enough to persuade skeptical governments to offer more troops. The truth is that the differences in deployment levels reflect real differences of public and political opinion. Unfortunately, there is no reason to expect that they should agree in the future either, as there is no longer agreement on what constitutes NATO's mission in Afghanistan."

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October 27, 2009

War From Cyberspace

National Interest

By Richard Clarke, Faculty Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The United States thinks that its cyber warriors are the best at offense, with the capability of shutting down enemy air defenses, electric-power grids, rail systems and telephony. Such offensive prowess does nothing to defend our own networks from similar attacks, however, and the current U.S. defense systems protect only parts of the federal government, and not civilian or private-sector infrastructure. No nation is as dependent on cyber systems and networks for the operation of its infrastructure, economy and military as the United States. Yet, few national governments have less control over what goes on in its cyberspace than Washington.

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October 28, 2009

"Afghans Need to Find a New Model of Democracy"

Financial Times

By Paul Fishstein, Fellow, Belfer Center & Carr Center

"While democracy is notoriously difficult to define, it is generally considered to be something positive. Until the debacle of the August presidential elections, 'fledgling democracy' was touted as one of the west's great achievements in Afghanistan."

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October 27, 2009

"We Mustn't Judge Leaders by Values of Hollywood"

The Scotsman

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"Imagine the front-ranking opposition front-bencher, with decades of work and experience behind him, forced to conclude he was underqualified to lead his party because he lacked a full head of hair. Or the shadow cabinet team, waiting to listen to speeches by two leadership contenders, knowing before either candidate has stepped on to the podium who they will vote for as leader by looking at their faces alone."

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October 21, 2009

"High Cost, Low Odds"

Nation

By Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program

"...America's odds of winning this war are slim. The Karzai government is corrupt, incompetent and resistant to reform. The Taliban have sanctuaries in Pakistan and can hide among the local populace, making it possible for them simply to outlast us. Pakistan has backed the Afghan Taliban in the past and is not a reliable partner now. Our European allies are war-weary and looking for the exits. The more troops we send and the more we interfere in Afghan affairs, the more we look like foreign occupiers and the more resistance we will face. There is therefore little reason to expect a US victory."

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October 2009

"Strategic Advantage: Why America Should Care About Cybersecurity"

By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Project Minerva

The internet is an interconnected series of networks--where it is difficult to determine where private security threats end and public ones begin.  These networks deliver power and water to our households and businesses, enable us to access our bank accounts from almost any city in the world, and transform the way our doctors provide healthcare.  For all of these reasons, we need a safe Internet with a strong network infrastructure.