Notable Quotes

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Winter 2010-11

 

Nuclear

"...[O]n 9/11, Al Qaeda rewrote the terrorist playbook by executing mass casualty attacks against strategic U.S. targets. In essence, these attacks ended one era and ushered in a new one. It is an age in which a few terrorists hold the means to alter the course of history with a single blow." Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, "Proliferation and Terrorism: Big Hype or Biggest Threat?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (March/April 2010)

"Terrorists do have time and money. We've seen that al Qaeda is, if nothing else, patient. What they typically don't have is access to fissile material, and in all likelihood, they could not manufacture it themselves."  William Tobey, "Nuclear Summit Gets Voluntary Deal on Nukes," Radio Australia (April 14, 2010)

"The Nuclear Security Summit succeeded in persuading the states to affirm the objective that Obama stated, namely that within four years all nuclear weapons, all nuclear materials, everywhere, will be locked up to a gold standard, out of reach of terrorists.  Graham Allison, "The Congenital Optimist," Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (Sept./Oct., 2010)

"Unlike traditional terrorism, nuclear terrorism would pose a potentially catastrophic threat to states across the world. Even a bomb considered to be relatively small would have devastating consequences, with estimates ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of dead." Chuck Freilich, "Armageddon and the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism," InFocus (Summer 2010)

"One cannot help wonder why 20 years since the end of the ideological divide between West and East, the two have not only failed to form a strategic partnership, but also remain in a stand-off with thousands of nuclear warheads prepared for a quick launch." Simon Saradzhyan, "A Parade of East-West Opportunities," International Relations and Security Network (May 10, 2010)

"Iran's enrichment efforts are 'slow but steady,' Heinonen said. ‘However, the clock is ticking. They are making progress, but I think there is still time for a negotiated solution.'"  Olli Heinonen, "Iran Atom Progress ‘Slow but Steady'- Ex-IAEA Aide," Reuters (October 1, 2010)

Middle East Politics

"If negotiations and sanctions fail, as I fear they may, President Obama or his successor will ultimately have to make a brutally tough judgment: go to war to slow down Iran's march toward a nuclear weapons future, or imprison Tehran in a vise of sanctions and military pressure - containment - without resort to open armed force." Nicholas Burns, "The Strength of Obama's Long Game with Iran," The Atlantic (August 23, 2010)

"I'm for a shift away from the current rigid deadline to something more flexible, more reflective of the fluid and tense situation in Iraq, where the last thing the Iraqis really need is for the United States to be focused more on exit than anything else at a moment of high political uncertainty."  Meghan O'Sullivan, "Obama Sticks to a Deadline in Iraq," New York Times (April 28, 2010)

"The goal should be no less than a settlement of territorial disputes involving Israel, diplomatic relations between Israel and the rest of the region, and the creation of a zone free of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and their delivery systems."  Martin B. Malin, "Four Reasons the US Could Get Israel to Talk About a Middle East Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction," Christian Science Monitor (June 8, 2010)

"The Middle East and the world are far more unstable, violent, and dangerous today than they were a decade ago, partly as a result of the Iraq war and partly because of other indigenous factors -- including assorted thug-based regimes like the one Saddam Hussein ran for nearly 30 years. American combat troops leaving Iraq should remind us, above all, of the many and terrible consequences of their entering Iraq."  Rami Khouri, "Leaving Iraq and the World More Dangerous," Agence Global (August 23, 2010)

Religion

"We should perhaps expect no less difficulty where theorizing about religiously-inspired violence is concerned, but two important points are in order here. First, religiously-inspired actors are rational, but like nationalists, their rationality is different. It follows that second, we need not avoid theorizing about religious actors because their rationality differs from our common understandings."  Monica Duffy Toft, "Understanding Rationality in Religious Violence," Huffington Post (June 14, 2010)

Science & Technology

"If you are a private research corporation, if you are a university research facility, or you're a government lab, if you have any intellectual property worth having - it's been had. And the most sophisticated of facilities, even with expertise in the area of cyber security, have been successfully hacked. And terabytes of information have been extracted but also research institutions and corporate R&D departments."  Richard Clarke, "Cyber," Belfer Center Directors' Seminar (September 2010)

"Our most important resource right now is time. Targeted attacks on industry are increasing and our defensive posture remains weak. While a sense of urgency is rising, I am afraid that we will see more partnerships emerge rather than consolidated efforts and investments across executive branch agencies or industry verticals. We cannot afford to wait and see who will lead and who will follow.  Melissa Hathaway, "Why Successful Partnerships are Critical for Promoting Cybersecurity," New New Internet (May 7, 2010)

Economics & Global Affairs

"The nature and depth of the financial crisis is forcing us to reconsider some of the basic tenets of financial theory. To my way of thinking, that is both necessary and promising in pointing toward useful reform."  Paul Volcker, "The Time We Have Is Growing Short," The New York Review of Books (June 24, 2010)

"I cannot agree with those who suggest that it somehow threatens the future to provide truly temporary, high-bang-for-the-buck jobs and growth measures. Spurring growth, if we can achieve it, is by far the best way to improve our fiscal position."  Lawrence Summers, "Obama Adviser Calls for New ‘Mini-stimulus,'" Financial Times (May 25, 2010)

"Any decision-maker who depends on forecasts - a businessman, an investor, or a government official - needs to know the probability of very low or very high growth rates, as well as the median forecast. But that information remains hidden."  Martin Feldstein, "US Recession Not Out of the Question," The Age (Australia) (July 29, 2010)

Environment & Climate Change

"In the short run, this may be one of the worst environmental disasters we have seen, but what the public doesn't know is the extent of the environmental damage."  Henry Lee, "Questions on an Oil-dark Sea, Harvard Gazette (June 21, 2010)

"The government has failed to convene the right kind of scientific experts who can be transparent about what we know and what we don't know. . . . The government gets low marks for such a coherent and comprehensive effort to date."  Ben Heineman, "Questions on an Oil-dark Sea," Harvard Gazette (June 21, 2010)

"Meaningful action of some kind is still possible, or at least conceivable. But with debates regarding national climate change policy becoming more acrimonious in Washington as midterm elections approach, it is important to ask, what are the real options for climate policy in the United States - not only in 2010, but in 2011 and beyond."  Robert Stavins, "Real Options for U.S. Climate Policy," "An Economic View of the Environment" blog (June 23, 2010)

"When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet."  William Clark, "Climate Change and the Integrity of Science," Science (May 7, 2010)

"Until the US gets serious nationally about climate change - and we're not serious until we put a price on greenhouse gas emissions - we're not going to have the international agreement, we're not going to have the mitigation that we need, and we're not going to have the support for adaptation."  John P. Holdren, National Climate Adaptation Summit (May 27, 2010)

 

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