Graham Allison

October 12, 2002

Is Bush Provoking an Attack?

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

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

President George W. Bush believes not. In this week's address to the nation, the essence of his argument for acting now is that we must hit Saddam before he hits us. Unless we take preemptive action to disarm Iraq and eliminate Saddam, he argued ''on any given morning,'' Saddam could surprise us with a chemical or biological 9/11.

July 31, 2002

The View From Baghdad

Op-Ed, Washington Post

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

As preparation for war against Iraq intensifies, the time has come to pause and consider the view from Baghdad. Conclusions from such an exercise are not comforting. But to strike without thinking seriously about what Saddam Hussein could do to us would be irresponsible.

June 30, 2002

"U.S. Policy on Russian and Caspian Oil Exports: Addressing America's Oil Addiction"

Discussion Paper

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

On April 8, 2002 - the same day that Iraq instituted an oil export embargo and only weeks after the U.S. Senate rejected new fuel efficiency standards for automobiles - students in my "Central Issues of American Foreign Policy" course at the Kennedy School of Government were in the middle of presenting policy recommendations to address America's "addiction to oil.

May 22, 2002

Graham Allison: Scoring the Summit

Press Release

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

When scoring Olympic events like diving or figure skating, judges first assess the difficulty of the maneuver before judging its execution. If we follow that practice in scoring this week's Moscow summit between Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, what may first appear a flawless performance will actually fall far short of a perfect 10. The Bush administration has chosen to be cautious in its approach to the summit. In Olympic terms, the program never leaves the low diving board.

May 20, 2002

Graham Allison and Andrei Kokoshin: Bush and Putin Must Confront Nuclear Terror

Press Release

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

The centerpiece of this week''s Moscow summit will be the signing of a treaty cutting the number of deployed strategic warheads by two-thirds over the next decade. But as both President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin have acknowledged, the agreement looks more to the Cold War than to future dangers. Especially in the aftermath of Sept. 11, their priority at this summit should be to act now to prevent nuclear terrorism.

February 1, 2002

Kazakhstan TV's interview with Graham Allison

Media Interview Transcripts

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

INTERVIEWER: It is not just heads of state and diplomats who determine the development of interstate relations. For instance, the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs is one of the most influential "brain trusts" in the United States. Operating as part of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, it provides long-term analysis of the current state of the world, which has changed so much since the end of the Cold War. Graham Allison, a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense and nowadays a university professor, is director of this research center. He is convinced that Kazakhstan has a major role to play in the strategic allocation of forces in the world arena. We recently had a chance to meet this prominent American political scientist at Harvard.

January 6, 2002

Graham Allison: Kazakhstan's Antinuclear Role

Press Release

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

WHEN KAZAKHSTAN is mentioned, most people think of one thing: oil. As the principal source of Caspian energy, Kazakhstan supplies world markets directly through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Opened in September, this pipeline has a capacity of 1 million barrels a day. Furthermore, Kashagan field has been acclaimed as the most significant new discovery of reserves in the past quarter-century. When President Bush met with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House in December, they discussed Kazakhstan's new role in world energy and the campaign against terrorism. The meeting resulted in a joint statement that affirmed their strategic partnership and a US intention to help Kazakhstan integrate more fully into the global economy.

January 6, 2002

Kazakhstan's Antinuclear Role

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

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

Opened in September, this pipeline has a capacity of 1 million barrels a day. Furthermore, Kashagan field has been acclaimed as the most significant new discovery of reserves in the past quarter-century.

When President Bush met with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House in December, they discussed Kazakhstan's new role in world energy and the campaign against terrorism. The meeting resulted in a joint statement that affirmed their strategic partnership and a US intention to help Kazakhstan integrate more fully into the global economy.

While this meeting addressed important goals, it should also have underlined the significant role Kazakhstan has played in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Nazarbayev now has an opportunity to extend that legacy by leading the negotiations for the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty.

November 21, 2001

Graham Allison, Karl Kaiser, Sergei Karaganov: The World Needs a Global Alliance for Security

Press Release

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

In the aftermath of September 11th, the authors propose that the world's greatest powers consider creating a new 'Global Alliance for Security.' Given the seriousness of the terrorist threat, the mission of this alliance would be to prevent and fight terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the infrastructure of international criminal activities and drug traffic that feed terrorist networks. It would also address the causes of terrorism in failed or failing political regimes and societies.

November 20, 2001

Graham Allison: Preventing Terrorism in the Air: A How-to-guide for Nervous Airline Passengers

Press Release

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

As Americans take to the airways for Thanksgiving, what responsibilities should passengers assume for securing the aircraft against terrorists? Flight attendants routinely instruct those who sit in emergency rows about their responsibilities in the case of an emergency. But what about a security emergency?