Graham Allison

June 1, 1991

Plan B is Best Hope for Survival

Journal Article, New Perspectives Quarterly

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

Six years after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, the Soviet Union has arrived at the final fork in the road. It is at last clear to the Soviet leadership that, if perestroika's aspiration to make the Soviet Union a "normal", "civilized" country is to succeed, piecemeal reform will not do. Only an unflinching determination to transform the entire system can achieve that aim.

December 1990

Can the President Make War Without a Vote From Congress?

Op-Ed, Scripps Howard News Service

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

Can the President Make War without a Vote from Congress?

September 15, 1990

Our Ounce of Prevention Saves the Allies Billions;Burden-Sharing: Compared with the Benefits of Oil Peace, Contributions Promised by Japan Germany and Others Hardly Make a Down Payment.

Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School and Kerry Abelson, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1988-1989

Although Japan and Germany are two of biggest beneficiaries of the American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, both seek to shirk their fair share of the costs. After vacillating, the Japanese government first pledged a symbolic $1 billion but waffled on what it intended to count. In response to sharp criticism, Japan has now doubled its pledge, but is still short on specifics. Similarly, last week Germany just said no. A senior government official explained that because the military deployment was primarily American, "it should be paid for by one nation." Sen. Sam Nunn expressed the annoyance of a growing chorus of Americans when he called these responses "absolutely ridiculous."

July 5, 1990

Should the West Bail Out Gorbachev?

Op-Ed, New York Times

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

When the heads of the leading industrial democracies meet in Houston next Monday, President Bush will face a question he has been trying to avoid: what can the West do to help Mikhail Gorbachev?

February 4, 1990

Both Germanys - - Almost Unified

Op-Ed, New York Times

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

No country, especially the U.S., can any longer avoid addressing the issue of German reunification.

February 4, 1990

Both Germanys - Almost Unified

Op-Ed, New York Times

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

No country, especially the U.S., can any longer avoid addressing the issue of German reunification.

While politicians continue to scramble, they are being outrun by the galloping political and economic forces in both Germanys. Even Mikhail Gorbachev, who fears reunification most, this week acknowledged its inevitably. But he warns sharply against the 'chaos of nihilism, the diktat of the crowd.'

Has reunification already occurred? Yes, almost. Historians will identify 1989's closing months as decisive. Both Germanys reawakened to being a single nation in the currency that matters most: hearts and minds. Formalities and legalities remained. But de facto, Deutschland again became one nation that increasingly acted as one state.

June 18, 1989

US-Soviet treaty seeks to end policy of "shoot first, ask questions later

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

US-Soviet treaty seeks to end policy of "shoot first, ask questions later

May 28, 1989

Thawing Cold War

Op-Ed, The Dallas Morning Star

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

Once again General Secretary Gorbachev appears to be trying to answer da to a Western proposal -- this time on conventional arms control. Moscow's latest proposal largely accepts the North Atlantic Treaty Organization proposal for reductions in conventional arms by both alliances to equal numbers of tanks, artillery and armored troop carriers. Moreover, the numerical ceilings Mr. Gorbachev proposed are identical with NATO's earlier proposal on tanks and armored troop

March 15, 1989

If Not the Cold War, Then What?

Op-Ed, Chicago Tribune

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

The beginning of East-West conventional arms talks in Vienna represents another window of opportunity for stabilizing a relationship between the two superpowers beyond the Cold War. If not the Cold War, what? What relationship between the superpowers is both desirable and feasible?

February 19, 1989

Success Is Within Reach

Op-Ed, New York Times

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School

With the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the unilateral reductions in tanks and troop divisions in Eastern Europe, Mikhail S. Gorbachev will have sharply reduced the major military threat to American vital interests. If he continues pursuing his current agenda for the next several years, he will pose for the West for the first time since the late 1940's a conceptual challenge: What do we want beyond victory in the cold war?