Simon Saradzhyan
Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-496-8228
Email: simon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu
January 27, 2011
"Suicide Bombing at Moscow Airport Illustrates Russia’s Misguided Security Strategy"
Op-Ed, Global Intelligence Report
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Belfer Center Fellow Simon Saradzhyan writes "A powerful bomb went off on 24 January at Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 35 and injuring some 180 others. As of 26 January, no one had claimed responsibility for the attack at the Domodedovo airport, but investigators suspect that North Caucasus-based terrorist networks."
January 25, 2011
"Missile Defense: Game-Changer in NATO-Russia Relations"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Belfer Center Fellow Simon Saradzhyan writes, "The US and its NATO allies remain at loggerheads with Russia over missile defense in Europe, threatening to shutter fledgling NATO-Russian cooperation. However, an agreement on a cooperative missile system would transform the Moscow-NATO relationship from that of military stand-off to substantive, sustainable partnership."
AP Photo
December 23, 2010
"Russia's North Caucasus, The Terrorism Revival"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Terrorism has recently staged a deadly comeback in Russia after a lull of several years, writes Belfer Center fellow Simon Saradzhyan. "Escalatory logic and rivalry among leaders of the North Caucasus-based terrorist networks combined with landmark events planned in Russia and the dynamics of violence in the greater Middle East may fuel further spikes in organized political violence..."
AP Photo
December 22, 2010
"Working Toward a Russia For All"
Op-Ed, Moscow Times
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
The show of force by ultranationalists across Russia should serve as a wake-up call for the authorities, write Simon Saradzhyan, a Belfer Center research fellow, and Monica Duffy Toft, associate professor of public policy. "While [the authorities] took some steps over the past few years to dismantle violent ultranationalist groups, more needs to be done — and soon," they argue.
AP Photo
November 19, 2010
Everything to Gain By a Russia-NATO Partnership
Op-Ed, Global Intelligence Report
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Relations between NATO and Russia, which came to a freezing point in the wake of the August 2008 war in Georgia, were thawing throughout 2010 and this process will culminate when, as Russian diplomats hope, Moscow and Brussels sign off on the joint assessment of threats that Russian and NATO experts and diplomats have been crafting since December 2009.
October 4, 2010
"Moscow Mayor's Ouster Sets Stage for Russian Elections"
Op-Ed, Global Intelligence Report
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
INCIDENT: After several weeks of public trading of barbs between the Kremlin and Moscow city authorities, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decreed to fire the Russian capital's long-time mayor Yuri Luzhkov "due to loss of confidence."
November 4, 2010
"Russia Back in Afghanistan, But in a Necessarily Limited Capacity"
Op-Ed, Global Intelligence Report
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
SITUATION: The participation of Russian agents in a recent joint special forces operation on Afghan territory falls short of crossing the Rubicon for Russian forces that have foresworn to return to Afghanistan after leaving more than two decades, but highlights Moscow's preparations for the containment of instability emanating from this country as the US-led coalition there ponders exit strategies.
Last month saw US, Russian, and Afghan agents jointly raid four laboratories in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border in what the US embassy in Moscow billed as an unprecedented collaborative military operation.
Russia's Federal Drug Police, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the US Department of Defense, NATO, and the Afghan Interior Ministry were all involved in the raid, which destroyed an estimated $250 million worth of heroin and morphine at four labs on the AfPak border.
August 11, 2010
"Chechnya: Divisions in the Ranks"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Doku Umarov's attempt to resign has revealed a schism in the leadership of North Caucasus-based insurgency and terrorism networks, but whether he stays or goes will have no long-term impact on the network's capabilities, Simon Saradzhyan comments for ISN Security Watch.
July 3, 2010
"Russian-led Alliance Risks Losing Credibility"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Russia needs to lead the development of real CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) procedure and capacity for humanitarian interventions and peacekeeping operations to deal with the dangerous internal threats that its Central Asian members face, writes Simon Saradzhyan. "If Moscow does not develop such a capacity," he says, "then it will see the credibility of its collective security project plummet."
July 1, 2010
"Russia and the 'Global Zero'"
Op-Ed, Russia in Global Affairs
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
A nuclear-free world will probably prove unattainable even in the longer-term. However, if Russia, the U.S. and other responsible nations take even some of the initial steps required to progress towards Global Zero, the world will become significantly safer-not only for these nations, but for the entire international community.
