Mailing address
Littauer 335
79 JFK St.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Simon Saradzhyan
Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-496-8228
Email: simon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu
Experience
Simon Saradzhyan is a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. His research interests include nuclear and conventional terrorism, arms control, U.S.-Russian relations, defense, security and space affairs in Russia and other newly-independent states.
Prior to joining the Belfer Center, Saradzhyan worked as a researcher for East West Institute and as a consultant for the United Nations and World Bank.
Simon has also worked as deputy editor of the Moscow Times and as Moscow correspondent for Defense News. He has contributed scores of articles to other publications, ranging from the Times of London to Space News, earning certificate of merit from the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces for his coverage of Russia's military affairs.
As an editor, he led coverage of such dramatic events in Russia, as the Dubrovka and Beslan-hostage taking crises. As a reporter, Simon has covered a number of milestone security events in Russia on the ground, including the October 1993 coup and the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow.
Saradzhyan is the author of a number of papers on arms control and security, including "Russia's Non-strategic Nuclear Weapons in Their Current Configuration and Posture: A Strategic Asset or Liability?" and "Russia's Support for Zero: Tactical Move or Long-term Commitment?" and published by the Belfer Center;"Russia: Grasping Reality of Nuclear Terror," published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; "Russia's System to Combat Terrorism and Its Application in Chechnya" published in the "National Counter-Terrorism Strategies" of NATO Security through Science Series; and "La Guerra Olvidada de Chechenia" (Forgotten War in Chechnya,) published in La Vanguardia Dossier Quarterly.
Saradzhyan has presented his research at numerous conferences, such as the European Union Institute for Security Studies' annual conference and the EastWest Institute's annual Worldwide Security Conference. In his capacity as an expert, Saradzhyan has appeared on BBC, CBS, NPR, AP and Reuters television as well as on Russian radio and television stations.
Simon co-founded and served as the first president of Harvard Club of Russia in 2004-2006.
Saradzhyan earned a Masters in Public Administration the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2002.
April 12, 2012
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter: February-March 2012
Newsletter
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter is a forum for discussing nuclear terrorism and actions to contribute to improved joint US-Russian assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism. Available in both English and Russian.
AP Photo
March 9, 2012
"Putin Redux"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
Despite protests over alleged vote-rigging, Vladimir Putin is firmly on track to reclaim the Russian presidency in May. But while Putin is poised to return to the office he vacated in 2008, the country he plans to govern is no longer the same.
AP Photo
March 5, 2012
"Putin election victory doesn't pave an easy path through his third presidential term"
Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
There was little doubt that Vladimir Putin would be elected president of Russia on Sunday and return to the Kremlin for a third term. The Central Elections Committee announced on Monday that Mr. Putin won more than 60 percent of the vote and avoided a second round. But there is also little doubt that the legitimacy of his presidency will be contested during his third term, given the scale of recent protests against his return and strong criticism of the Sunday vote, which some of the opposition leaders and independent observers condemned as unfair and fraudulent.
AP Photo
February 17, 2012
"Putin, the protest movement and political change in Russia"
Journal Article, EU Institute for Security Studies
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
Few leaders undertake major reforms in either domestic or foreign policy late in their rule, and Vladimir Putin – who seeks to return to the Kremlin this spring for at least six years – hardly wants to be an exception. However, should the disparate groups behind the recent unprecedented protests in Russia develop into an organised movement leading to a sustained increase in public pressure on the Kremlin, then Putin may end up pursuing far more extensive domestic political and economic reforms than he would wish.
AP Photo
February 12, 2012
"Creating a Culture of Giving"
Op-Ed, Moscow Times
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
It is a truism that rapid accumulation of wealth by a privileged minority is bound to generate lasting resentment by the majority. It is the latter that presidential candidate Vladimir Putin decided to use as a campaign issue when he announced last week that Russia's business tycoons should pay a fee to win public acceptance of privatization deals they benefited from in the 1990s.
Read more:http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/creating-a-culture-of-giving/452896.html#ixzz1mHIcXpxf
The Moscow Times
February 2, 2012
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter: December 2011 - January 2012
Newsletter
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter is a forum for discussing nuclear terrorism and actions to contribute to improved joint US-Russian assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism. Available in both English and Russian.
December 20, 2011
"Mutually Assured Stability"
Op-Ed, Moscow Times
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Fall 1991 saw U.S. and Soviet leaders display goodwill by pledging to unilaterally consolidate and reduce their nations' arsenals of tactical nuclear weapons in what became the last milestone in the history of U.S.-Soviet arms control....Twenty years after, however, the two countries still have thousands of tactical nuclear weapons outside any of the existing international arms control regimes," writes Simon Saradzhyan
(AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Shtukina. pool)
October 5, 2011
"Putin's Comeback: Fast Forward to the Past"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev’s decision to swap jobs may put an end to the diarchy in Russia but is unlikely to lead to any tectonic policy shifts, writes Simon Saradzhyan. Instead, it will further cement the system of ‘managed democracy’, which in time will become so inflexible that it may fail to cope with a protracted crisis.
October 1, 2011
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter: August - September 2011
Newsletter
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
William Tobey, Pavel Zolotarev to Addresses AtomEco on Joint Threat Assessment; Graham Allison Argues For Eternal Vigor to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism; Aleksei Arbatov Weighs In On Terrorism and Proliferation; more.
July 29, 2011
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter: June-July 2011
Newsletter
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Newsletter is a forum for discussing nuclear terrorism and actions to contribute to improved joint US-Russian assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism. Available in both English and Russian.
