OP-EDS
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."
May 18, 2013
"When Arab States and Citizens Differ on Palestine"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
"Tensions between the Arab state and its citizens will expand in the years ahead, as the fundamental contradictions of Arab state-building, national identity, regional relations, the Arabism-Zionism confrontation, and international alliances all clash visibly. Jordan and Egypt provide the clearest examples because of their peace treaties with Israel, but they are not unique. Most other Arab states suffer similar contradictions and stresses, especially Levantine and Gulf states that must satisfy American-Israeli demands that contradict the sentiments of many of those Arab states’ own citizens."
May 17, 2013
"For Dimon and Board Leaders: Function Matters, Not Form"
Harvard Business Review, Blog Network
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
One of the dumbest corporate governance issues is whether to split the roles of Board Chair and CEO. That debate is now playing out on the front pages of business sections (print and online) as shareholders will decide next week in a nonbinding vote whether to take the chairman of the board title away from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
Spring 2013
"Insights on the Nuclear Negotiations with Iran"
Middle East Journal, volume 67
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Written at a time when Iran's nuclear issue, a subject of diplomatic efforts since 2003, remains unresolved, it would be reasonable to glean what explanations the book can provide to this end. Meanwhile, Iran has steadily progressed toward nuclear weapons capability and continues to disregard UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions. It is subject to increasingly tightened international sanctions and censure. Can Iran move away from steps that have caused its economy to tailspin and walk away from an isolated path?
AP Photo
May 16, 2013
"A Seat at the Arctic Table"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[T]he Arctic Council agreed to let nations that, at last look at the map, are not located anywhere near the Arctic, join as observers. It may seem a diplomatic nicety, but it is the recognition that the Arctic Council nations no longer have a monopoly on the region. China, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Singapore are on a hunt for more energy and have their eyes on the waning polar ice caps."
May 15, 2013
"Privacy Consciousness in the Big Data Era"
Hive
By Vivek Mohan, Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project
"...[S]ocietal inertia cannot be held up ipso facto to argue for stronger privacy protections when we ourselves are responsible for sharing the data that is now traversing the endless servers of cyberspace. The benefits of the big data revolution are myriad, cut across sectors, and the best is surely yet to come."
May 15, 2013
"Critics Quick to Attack Obama Administration, but its Inquiry into AP Was Justified"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[T]he leak wasn't just an inside-the-Beltway jab at political enemies, and the story that resulted wasn't about infighting in the national security staff. The information cut to the heart of how America fights its enemies and the resources it uses to do so. An agent of ours had infiltrated a terrorist cell. He is no longer in the inner circle. The leaker may be to blame. And the investigation that has everyone up in arms was completely justified."
May 14, 2013
"Cuts to Nuclear Security Will Make Us Less Safe"
Politico
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
At the 2010 Washington Nuclear Security Summit, President Barack Obama hosted the largest gathering of foreign leaders on U.S. soil since the Truman administration. He sought to bolster international efforts to protect nuclear material and to prevent terrorists from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The president cites these initiatives among his highest national security priorities. Why then would his latest budget slash the most important programs to secure and to dispose of highly enriched uranium and plutonium — precisely the work he rallied foreign leaders to support?
May 14, 2013
"New Rules of the Evolving Arab Order"
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The uprisings that erupted across the region as of December 2010 have been the single most important sign of a region-wide malaise that was gnawing at the core of Arab countries for decades, signaled in its earlier stages in the 1980s-90s by the rise of mass Islamist movements that reflected widespread citizen discontent and challenged autocratic governments. The evolving regional order is now entering its most dynamic stage of change, with every component element transforming into something new.
May 14, 2013
"Africa's New Science and Innovation Agenda"
Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
"Today all African presidents are supported by economic advisors. The time has come for them to complement the work of economic advisors with science, engineering, and innovation advisors. But advisors are not just people who whisper in the ears of heads of state. They are professionals whose work is guided by proper laws, procedures, and staff trained in policy analysis."
