ARTICLES AND OP-EDS
May 23, 2013
"A Rainy Day Fund Doesn't Work if it's Always Raining"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[G]overnment can also promote the freedom from harm. Past experiences in Oklahoma are illustrative. The state, no stranger to tornadoes, does not legally require safe rooms or underground shelters. Indeed, after a similar massive tornado struck Moore in 1999, disaster funds were focused solely on helping homeowners to rebuild what they lost; houses were constructed in exactly the same manner as before."
Sgt. Samara Scott Photo
May 23, 2013
"Building Roads in Africa? Send in the Troops"
CNN.com
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
"African armed forces possess extensive human resources and equipment needed to build infrastructure projects. They regularly use such facilities during emergencies and are at the forefront of developing robust systems such as smart microgrid systems that can provide decentralized power supply for rural Africa. What is needed is an explicit policy to extend their role in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure projects in cooperation with civilian agencies."
AP Photo/Fosphotos, Panayiotis Tzamaros
May 23, 2013
"The rise of hate"
Boston Globe
By Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
Professor Burns looks at the rise of far-right political movements gaining momentum in some European politics. He warns it would be a mistake not to take this seriously and to assume they are all harmless far-right crackpots.
May 22, 2013
"How to Make the 'Red Line' Mean Something"
American Interest
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"A failure to respond to Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons would not only encourage him in the belief that he can perhaps get away with an even bigger use next time; it would also undermine U.S. strategic credibility well beyond the Syria case. This begs the obvious question: At what point does the 'red line' really become one?"
May 22, 2013
"China’s No-First-Use Policy Promotes Nuclear Disarmament"
Diplomat
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"If China abandons its no-first-use nuclear pledge, which has guided China’s nuclear strategy since its first nuclear test in 1964, it would severely undermine the global disarmament process, potentially preventing the U.S. and Russian from further reducing their nuclear arsenals and even encouraging the U.S. to expand its nuclear forces. Is China really changing its nuclear policy?"
May 21, 2013
"Is the Vision Thing Important?"
New York Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...[P]residents matter, but not exactly in the ways that leadership experts predict. Their expectation that transformational leaders make all the difference and incremental or transactional leaders are simply routine managers greatly oversimplifies the role of leadership."
May 22, 2013
"Hezbollah's Moment of Reckoning in Qusayr"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The battle for Qusayr is only the haphazard spark within the larger Syrian war that could ignite this fire. The real causes of this combustible condition of the Arab region remain the dysfunction of modern Arab states and central governments, the ascendancy of police states and military regimes, the repercussions of the century-long Zionism-Arabism conflict, and the continuing status of the Middle East as a proxy battleground for regional and foreign powers.
AP Images
May 15, 2013
"U.S. Action in Syria Could Sway Iran on Nukes"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad must be pleased at how, within a week, the conversation has shifted from his regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons to an international peace conference on Syria’s civil war.
AP Photo
May 21, 2013
"Obama Can Still Build 2nd Term Legacy"
CNN.com
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Obama's first term was marked by the passage of health care legislation — unpopular with some, but a historic accomplishment that Democratic presidents have sought since the days of Harry Truman. The Democrats' loss of the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections has constrained Obama's ability to advance other transformational efforts on the domestic front, though some believe that, out of self-interest, the Republican Party may still allow bipartisan reform of immigration law during Obama's second term."
GHOSTARMY.ORG
May 20, 2013
"The Art of Warfare"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...World War II's Ghost Army, a unit of handpicked G.I.s whose sole function was to deceive the Germans about the strength of America's military presence. Using rubber tanks, sound effects, and illusions of manpower, this group of young magicians tricked the Germans into believing they knew America's true plans."
