Simon Saradzhyan

April 2, 2013

"Why Nuclear Powers Should Start Walking Toward Global Zero"

Op-Ed, RIA Novosti

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"On April 5, 2009 President Barack Obama gave a speech that was supposed to set the agenda for his presidency in international security. “I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” he proclaimed in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Prague. Four years later, however, this drive to achieve “Global Zero” seems to have waned to a point when even another round of modest reductions in US and Russian arsenals appears difficult to achieve."

March 5, 2013

"Russia Needs to Develop Eastern Provinces as China Rises"

Op-Ed, RIA Novosti

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"For better or worse, China is still several decades of development away from claiming the mantle of the world’s most powerful nation, according to Asia’s wisest living statesman, Lee Kwan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore.

The Kremlin should use this 'grace period' to allocate resources and introduce incentives to spur economic and demographic growth east of the Urals so that this region doesn’t become what Russian political scientists describe as 'a raw materials appendage' to China," advises Simon Saradzhyan of Harvard's Belfer Center.

February 5, 2013

"View From the Global Tank: Russia Can Shoulder Obama’s Challenges - After a BMD Deal"

Op-Ed, RIA Novosti

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Simon Saradzhyan explains how the growing gap between the U.S. and Russia negatively impacts many goals, both foreign and domestic, outlined in President Obama's second inaugural address, and argues that a deal between the two powers over America's ballistic missile defense (BMD) program in Europe could lead to greater Russian involvement and cooperation in American foreign policy objectives, leaving more time for Obama to address domestic concerns.

AP Photo/ Russian Interior Ministry Press Service

September 10, 2012

"Turncoats and Converts Make a Deadly Terrorist Mix"

Op-Ed, Power & Policy Blog

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Events of one August day in Russia's volatile republic of Dagestan have once again highlighted how turncoats can enhance terrorists' capabilities to carry out deadly attacks in the North Caucasus and other regions of Russia.

(U.S. Department of Defense)

June 24, 2012

"Vital Interdependence"

Op-Ed, Russia in Global Affairs

By Kevin Ryan, Director, Defense and Intelligence Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

In a recent op-ed published in Russia in Global Affairs the Belfer Center's Kevin Ryan and Simon Saradzhyan argue that at a time when deep U.S. defense budget cuts are underway, supporters of continued U.S. missile defense development should consider the potential for cutting costs that cooperation with Russia could offer.

AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service

April 26, 2012

"Global Insider: Russia-China Military Ties Growing Despite Friction"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, World Politics Review

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Russia and China launched their first joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea on Monday. In an email interview, Simon Saradzhyan, a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, discussed military cooperation between Russia and China.

AP Photo

April 2012

"The Dynamics of Russia’s Response to the Piracy Threat"

Journal Article, NATO Science for Peace and Security Studies, issue E: Human and Societal Dynamics, volume 95

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Russia’s Maritime Doctrine describes “maritime shipments” as being of “vital importance” to the country. Maritime shipments have accounted for 60 percent of Russia’s foreign trade shipments in the recent years. However, vessels bearing the Russian flag account only for 4 percent of Russia’s foreign trade shipments. And the Russian fishing fleet remains relatively near to Russia’s shores, not venturing into the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.

AP Photo/Sedrak Mkrtchyan, PanARMENIAN

March 2012

"Armenia and China—Case for a Special Partnership"

Journal Article, Noravank Foundation, 21st Century Journal

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

This article by Simon Saradzhyan takes stock of the Armenian-Chinese relations to discern whether Yerevan has been effective in its response to the ongoing rise of the Middle Kingdom as the two countries prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this April.

June 6, 2011

The U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment of Nuclear Terrorism

Report

By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom, Yuri Morozov, Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Viktor I. Yesin and Pavel S. Zolotarev

Researchers from the United States and Russia have issued a joint assessment of the global threat of nuclear terrorism, warning of a persistent danger that terrorists could obtain or make a nuclear device and use it with catastrophic consequences. The first joint threat assessment by experts from the world’s two major nuclear powers concludes: “If current approaches toward eliminating the threat are not replaced with a sense of urgency and resolve, the question will become not if but when, and on what scale, the first act of nuclear terrorism occurs.”

(AP Photo)

March 30, 2011

"Russia: Conscription Crisis Looming?"

Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network

By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The conscription model of the Russian armed forces is unsustainable, and the country’s military planners will either have to recruit older men and cancel exemptions or recruit more professional soldiers in the future. The latter is preferable given that skilled rank-and-file will be needed to operate sophisticated weapons systems that the Russian military plans to acquire in the next decade.