JOURNAL ARTICLES
Spring 2013
"Nebulous NATO: A Quest for Relevance"
Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs
By Timothy Sandole, Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is considered the most successful military alliance in history, and yet, its future is clouded in uncertainty. With the end of the Cold War, followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union, NATO has suffered from a structural problem that has become more acute over time—the absence of a clearly defined existential threat to Europe. This makes for a dubious raison d’être. If NATO’s future was ambiguous immediately following the Cold War, it is disquieting to consider its role in an environment of draconian defense cuts, fiscal woes in the United States, a Europe-wide financial crisis, and a U.S. military shift toward the Pacific.
Spring 2013
"Correspondence: Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By Gareth Evans, Ramesh Thakur and Robert Pape, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security
Gareth Evans and Ramesh Thakur respond to Robert A. Pape's summer 2012 International Security article, "When Duty Calls: A Pragmatic Standard of Humanitarian Intervention."
Spring 2013
"Correspondence: Assessing the Synergy Thesis in Iraq"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By John Hagan, Joshua Kaiser, Anna Hanson, Jon R. Lindsay, Austin Long, Stephen Biddle, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 1985–1987; Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Jeffrey A. Friedman, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Jacob N. Shapiro
John Hagan, Joshua Kaiser, and Anna Hanson; Jon R. Lindsay and Austin G. Long respond to Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey A. Friedman, and Jacob N. Shapiro's summer 2012 International Security article, "Testing the Surge: Why Did Violence Decline in Iraq in 2007?"
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Spring 2013
"Climate Change and Insecurity: Mapping Vulnerability in Africa"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By Joshua Busby, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2004-2005, Todd G. Smith, Kaiba L. White and Shawn M. Strange
Many experts argue that climate change will exacerbate the severity and number of extreme weather events. Such climate-related hazards will be important security concerns and sources of vulnerability in the future regardless of whether they contribute to conflict.
AP Photo/Maurizio Gambarini
Spring 2013
"Forced to Be Free? Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Rarely Leads to Democratization"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
By Jonathan Monten, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006–2007 and Alexander B. Downes, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007–2008
Is military intervention effective in spreading democracy? Existing studies disagree. Optimists point to successful cases, such as the transformation of West Germany and Japan into consolidated democracies after World War II. Pessimists view these successes as outliers from a broader pattern of failure typified by cases such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Feng Li, Pool
Spring 2013
"First Things First: The Pressing Danger of Crisis Instability in U.S.-China Relations"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
An analysis that examines the current state of U.S.-China relations and compares it with key aspects of U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War indicates that a serious Sino-American crisis may be more likely and more dangerous than expected.
Spring 2013
"How New and Assertive Is China's New Assertiveness?"
International Security, issue 4, volume 37
There has been a rapidly spreading meme in U.S. pundit and academic circles since 2010 that describes China's recent diplomacy as “newly assertive." This meme underestimates the complexity of key episodes in Chinese diplomacy in 2010 and overestimates the amount of change. The speed and extent with which it has spread point to an understudied issue in international relations—namely, the role that online media and the blogosphere play in the creation of conventional wisdoms that might, in turn, constrain policy debates.
April-May 2013
"China, North Korea and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons"
Survival
By Ben Rhode, Senior Research Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Thomas Plant
Once described as ‘as close as lips and teeth’, in recent years the relationship between China and North Korea has become more strained. Beijing has conflicted motivations in its policy towards Pyongyang. The threat to Beijing’s interests if North Korean nuclear weapons or materials find their way into the hands of others outweighs the danger of a regime collapse in Pyongyang.
2012
"Leadership and Responsibility for Cybersecurity"
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Special Issue
By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Explorations in Cyber International Relations
"Policy makers, legislators, and businessmen should assess the gap between the current defense posture and our needed front line defense in the face of an increasingly sophisticated range of actors. This paper describes a series of case studies that highlight the lack of attention being paid to this serious problem and the subsequent policy and technology solutions that are being brought to bear to close the gap."
Forthcoming 2013
"Bridging Decision Networks for Integrated Water and Energy Planning"
Energy Strategy Reviews
By Afreen Siddiqi, Visting Scholar, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Arani Kajenthira, Associate, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and Laura Diaz Anadon, Associate Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group; Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy
Integrated policy and planning is needed to effectively meet the challenges of growing water and energy inter-dependencies in many regions. Joint consideration of both water and energy domains can identify new options for increasing overall resource use efficiencies. In order to identify and realize such opportunities, however, detailed knowledge of current and emerging water–energy couplings is needed along with a nuanced understanding of key actors and agencies engaged in decision-making. In this paper we develop a systematic, analytical approach based on quantitative analysis of water and energy couplings, identification and characterization of key actors and groups using concepts from stakeholders theory, and employing notions from organization theory of boundary-spanning agents that can serve to bridge inter-organizational networks for water and energy planning. We apply this approach to conduct an in-depth investigation of water and energy resources in Jordan.
