William H. Tobey

NNSA Production Office

December 14, 2012

"Defining and Implementing Best Practices in Nuclear Security"

Discussion Paper

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

This paper analyzes the contribution that best practices can make to the field of nuclear security by doing the following:

• Defining what is meant by best practice
• Specifying a methodology for deriving it
• Understanding the resulting characteristics of the method
• Comparing its pros and cons to other methods contributing to security, such as guidelines and regulations

AP Photo

January/ February 2012

"Nuclear Scientists as Assassination Targets"

Journal Article, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 1, volume 68

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Since 2007, international media have reported the violent deaths of four scientists and engineers connected with Iran’s nuclear program and an attempt on the life of a fifth. The news reports on such killings are murky, incomplete, and, in some instances, likely inaccurate...

AP Photo

June 23, 2010

Extending the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction

Media Feature

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 and William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The G-8 meeting in Canada this weekend is expected to extend the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction for another 10 years with a further commitment of funding, and to make its focus more global.

AP Photo

April 14, 2010

Assessing Obama's Nuclear Security Summit: Takeaways from Experts at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center

Media Feature

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 and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

President Obama's first-ever Nuclear Security Summit, which brought nearly 40 heads of state to Washington, D.C., this week, was an unprecedented opportunity to focus global leaders' attention on the threat of nuclear terrorism. Experts from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs offer their takeaways from the Summit and what to do next.

AP Photo

July 2, 2009

Obama-Medvedev Russia Summit: Key Things to Watch

Media Feature

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom

Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev are meeting in Moscow July 6-8 to discuss a range of key issues, including reductions in nuclear weapons. Three experts from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center offer their insights and analysis of the issues in play.

AP Photo

September 24, 2009

President Obama's Nuclear Resolution: Statements from Matthew Bunn & William H. Tobey of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center

News

By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom and William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The following are statements from Matthew Bunn and William H. Tobey at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs on President Obama’s nuclear resolution.

AP Photo

June 11, 2009

Observations on the Recent United Nations Security Council Resolution on North Korea

News

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

On June 12, 2009, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1874 in response to recent provocative actions by North Korea, including a second nuclear test. Chinese and Russian support for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that imposes additional sanctions is potentially significant. However, whether China in particular will support tough implementation of the resolution and will take a harder line in its bilateral relations with North Korea remains to be seen, and will ultimately determine the success or failure of efforts to reverse North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Summer 2011

"After Fukushima: How Should Nuclear Regulators Respond?"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter

By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom, Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

With the nuclear crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactor continuing more than a month after the initial damage and radiation leaks, several Center experts responded to the question of what actions should be taken now by nuclear regulators around the world.

March 18, 2013

"North Korea’s Nuclear Test of China"

Op-Ed

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The most recent North Korean nuclear detonation is as much a test of China’s foreign policy as it was of the DPRK’s ability to induce atomic fission. It exposes outdated assumptions and policies, and the pernicious effects of China’s mushrooming foreign trade and investment in North Korea. Beijing’s relations with Pyongyang are guided by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which still thinks of the 1950 conflict as “the war to resist America and aid Korea.” The policy that China and North Korea should be as close as “lips and teeth” is a relic of the Cold War. The notion that North Korea could or should somehow act as a “buffer state” in an era of air power and massive Chinese trade with the South is equally archaic. Click the link below for the full text of this article:

AP Images

February 14, 2013

"Obama's 'Strategic Patience' on North Korea is Turning into Strategic Neglect"

Op-Ed, Foreign Policy, Shadow Blog

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

When asked, "would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?" then-candidate for President Barack Obama replied, "I would."