Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-496-6131
Email: rolf_mowatt-larssen@hks.harvard.edu
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.”
April 13, 2011
Nuclear Security Summit: One Year On and Looking Ahead
Op-Ed
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom, William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
We asked nuclear policy experts in Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs to summarize in one paragraph the achievements in the year since President Obama convened a summit on nuclear security on April 12-13, 2010. And we asked for a second paragraph on what needs to be done in the year before the follow-up summit planned for Seoul, South Korea.
Spring 2011
"Q & A: Rolf Mowatt-Larssen"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
After more than two decades in intelligence with the CIA and U.S. Department of Energy, Rolf MowattLarssen is now a senior fellow at the Belfer Center focusing on nuclear terrorism, domestic security, and al Qaeda’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ambitions. His most recent research report is titled “Al Qaeda’s Religious Justification of Nuclear Terrorism,” a follow-up to his timeline of al Qaeda’s quest to acquire WMD. We asked Mowatt-Larssen to share his views on al Qaeda's intent and justification for terrorism and to reflect on American life post 9/11 and the future of global intelligence.
Cover design by Tim Duffy
January 2011
Islam and the Bomb
Paper
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
We can not exclude the possibility of nuclear terrorism. It is not tomorrow's threat; it is with us here today. The game changing impact of a single mushroom cloud could destabilize the world order and raise fundamental doubts about the ability of governments to continue to provide security for their people.
AP Photo
July 26, 2010
"The Armageddon Test: To Prevent Nuclear Terrorism, Follow the Uranium"
Op-Ed, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"While the total amount of material that has been recovered and publicly disclosed is not sufficient to make a nuclear weapon, the matter is deadly serious. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, none of the recovered nuclear material was reported missing by its owners. Incredibly, none of these cases has been sufficiently investigated to determine the origin, destination, and all those responsible for the theft of the material."
March/April 2010
"Proliferation and Terrorism: Big Hype or Biggest Threat?"
Journal Article, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 2, volume 66
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Where are the sources of greatest threat today? Where is nuclear catastrophe most likely to occur over the next decade? If we are able to anticipate the breaking news of a nuclear security meltdown, it stands to reason we might be able to prevent it from becoming tomorrow's news.
AP Photo
April 12, 2010
"A Call for German Leadership in Combating Nuclear Terrorism"
Op-Ed
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Tom Bielefeld, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"...Germany has an opportunity at the Washington summit — and thereafter — to step up and lend non-American leadership to the problem. Recognizing that in many of the world's capitals the threat of nuclear terrorism is not yet being taken seriously, and when in some of them the very notion is even considered an American pretext for an entirely different, potentially hostile political agenda, non-American leadership is most urgently needed."
January 2010
Al Qaeda Weapons of Mass Destruction Threat: Hype or Reality?
Paper
By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Several terrorist groups have actively sought weapons of mass destruction (WMD) of one kind or another. To date, however, al Qaeda is the only group known to be pursuing a long-term, persistent and systematic approach to developing weapons to be used in mass casualty attacks. There are many plausible explanations for why the world has not experienced an al Qaeda attack using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons, but it would be foolish to discount the possibility that such an event will occur in the future.
December 2, 2008
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen Named Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center
Press Release
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy and former head of the Central Intelligence Agency's WMD and terrorism efforts, will join the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center as a senior fellow on January 19, 2009.
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.”
