PUBLICATIONS
Winter 2009-10
"Featured Fellows - Focus on Research"
Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications, Melissa Willard-Foster, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008–2012 and Vipin Narang, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2008–2010
Melissa Willard-Foster discusses key components to a lasting peace agreement and Vipin Narang explains Taliban threat to Pakistan nuclear weapons. Willard-Foster is a research fellow with the Belfer Center's International Security Program (ISP) and Narang is a research fellow with the ISP and Project on Managing the Atom.
AP Photo
November 2009
"Beyond Zero Enrichment: Suggestions for an Iranian Nuclear Deal"
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
"Some form of negotiated agreement, if it can be achieved, is the “least bad” option for U.S. interests—but is likely to have to include some continuing enrichment in Iran. There are real security risks in agreeing to permit some ongoing enrichment in Iran, but if appropriately managed, these security risks are less than those created by a military strike or allowing Iran to continue unfettered enrichment with no agreement."
AP Photo
August 2009
"A Tighter Net: Strengthening the Proliferation Security Initiative"
By Emma Belcher, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2007–2010
Australia and other countries should redouble their efforts to fix serious gaps in an international arrangement to stop maritime shipments of materials destined for weapons of mass destruction programs, according to the Brief. It argues that heightened concerns over North Korea provide an opportunity to bolster the Proliferation Security Initiative, a 95-country arrangement to promote interception of transfers of cargoes related to weapons of mass destruction.
AP Photo
July 26, 2009
"US Must Wake Up to Reality in Pakistan"
The Guardian, Comment is Free...
By Appu Soman, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2007–2009
"The most important non-state actor in Pakistan is the army. Normally, a country's army constitutes its ultimate instrument of legitimate force. But the Pakistani army is independent of the civilian government. It considers its interests as separate from those of this government. It has acted more like a mercenary force, reluctant to assume responsibility for defending the country against internal threats. It maintains links with some of the very elements that threaten the country's security."
AP Photo
June 19, 2009
"Don't Play Nuclear Chicken with a Desperate Pariah"
Foreign Policy
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"This game of escalation will go on and on until North Korea gets what it desires most from Washington: a reliable security assurance. Of course, no one likes to yield to dictators. But ultimately, playing chicken with a desperate and nuclear-armed North Korea is too risky to endeavor. The more isolated the North Koreans become, the more likely they will be to use the nuclear card in threatening two hostages: South Korea and Japan. Everyone loses that game"
May 2009
Pakistan Can Defy the Odds: How to Rescue a Failing State
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Is Pakistan collapsing? How far are the Taliban from Islamabad? Can al-Qaeda grab the country's nuclear weapons? These are the types of questions raised every day by the American media, academia and policy circles. And these are critical issues, given the nature of the evolving crisis in Pakistan. The approximately two dozen suicide bombings in 2009 so far, 66 in 2008, and 61 in 2007, all of which have targeted armed forces personnel, police, politicians, and ordinary people not only in the country's turbulent northwest but also in its major urban centers, indicate the seriousness of the threat. A major ammunition factory area located close to some very sensitive nuclear installations in Wah (Punjab) was targeted by two suicide bombers in August 2008, an act that sent shudders across the country's security establishment...."
AP Photo
April 14, 2008
"Separating Tibet and the Olympics"
Boston Globe
By Xiaohui (Anne) Wu, Former Associate, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2007–2010; Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2004–2007
"Some people believe it is fair to vent their grievances with China, but don't see any unfairness in depriving China and its people of the dream to host the Games. In both 1936 and 1948, Chinese Olympian athletes had to detour through Asia to raise fund for their trips by performing in competitions. They ended up exhausted and defeated in the Olympics. It would be equally unfair to deprive the world's athletes of their dreams and the chance to compete in the most important global athletic competition."
AP Photo
April 3, 2008
"Pakistan PM Has Good Credentials, Limited Authority"
Oxford Analytica
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Gilani is leader of a coalition government with a strong mandate but facing difficult problems. It is also committed to policies that could cause turbulence, particularly reinstating judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf. Gilani's position is further complicated by political circumstances, with the leaders of the dominant parties in the ruling coalition directing policy from outside parliament."
December 31, 2007
"The Elections Must Go Ahead"
The Guardian, Comment is Free...
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Without credible elections, restoration of the independent judiciary and effective curbs on the activities of the country's intelligence agencies in internal affairs, Pakistan cannot be rescued from a certain slide into more chaos. Pakistan's history is full of cover-ups and Bhutto's murder is proving to be no different.
December 17, 2007 12:34am EST
Analysis: End of Emergency Rule Unlikely to Resolve Pakistan's Problems
By Hassan Abbas, Former Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
In a country where those who lose elections instinctively blame it on rigging . . . , and where divisions in the society are entrenched, these elections can open up a Pandora's box of political grievances, unmet expectations, ethnic rivalries and people's disenchantment with the system.
