OP-EDS
AP Photo
May 30, 2011
"Post-revolution Uncertainty"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"This spring belonged to the Arabs in Tunisia and Egypt. It is now officially over. The inspiring events in those nations, and the continuing pursuit of freedom within the region, is more complicated now. Egypt, the darling of dramatic change, is economically and politically unstable; we have all but forgotten Tunisia; and moderate reforms in other countries throughout the region may be illusory. Nations such as Libya and Syria are still in a violent winter of discontent."
AP Photo
May 23. 2011
"BC Should Hand over Irish Archive Tapes"
Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"That the confidentiality agreement is sacrosanct because it involves the history of war in Northern Ireland is a romantic and dangerous defense. Terrorist organizations kill innocent victims; it’s what defines them. Replace IRA with Hamas and we wouldn't be having this theoretical debate. Among the incidents the police are investigating is the 1972 death of a widowed mother of 10."
AP Photo
May 20, 2011
"God and Terror"
Public Discourse
By Timothy Samuel Shah, Daniel Philpott and Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
"...[R]eligion has made a political comeback, abetted by globalization, democratization, and technological development. Those religious actors who are most closely integrated with state authority and who hold a political theology that calls for state sponsorship, the subordination of minorities, and the use of violence are most likely to be violent. Those who have remained independent of state authority and carry a political theology that prescribes democracy, peace, and reconciliation are most likely to be peaceful and democratic."
AP Photo
May 18, 2011
"God and Democratic Diplomacy"
Public Discourse
By Timothy Samuel Shah, Daniel Philpott and Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
"Democracy, with its open debate and its popular control, was supposed to have exposed religion as a crutch for primitive people. Surprisingly, though, religion has profited precisely from the open debate and room to operate that democracy affords. The best squelchers of religion are, in fact, secular dictators."
AP Photo
May 16, 2011
"God and Political Science"
Public Discourse
By Timothy Samuel Shah, Daniel Philpott and Monica Duffy Toft, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy; Former Board Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Former Director, Initiative on Religion and International Affairs
"...[T]he success of these political enemies of God helped to make it seem that secularization was the wave of the future. They made it seem that religion was a dying supernova, enjoying its penultimate glow before disappearing from history. They made it easily forgivable to think of the 20th century as the 'Godless Century,' at least as far as politics was concerned, making it increasingly common to ask whether God was dead, as Time magazine famously did on its cover in April 1966. They made it possible to view religion as absolutely defenseless in the face of modernity."
AP Photo
May 9, 2011
"American Power after Bin Laden"
The Korea Herald
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...[P]ossession of power resources does not always imply that one can get the outcomes one prefers. Even the recent death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of United States special forces does not indicate anything about American power one way or the other."
AP Photo
April 26, 2011
"Nuclear Inertia"
Slate
By Matthew Fuhrmann, Former Associate, Project on Managing the Atom, January–August 2009; Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2008–December 2009
"Nuclear-reactor construction is dominated by inertia. Harvesting nuclear energy is incredibly expensive at first, but much cheaper once the infrastructure is in place. Nevertheless, countries with a lot of money invested in nuclear energy have been surprisingly reluctant to give it up—even after major nuclear accidents. States that were not heavily invested, however, have often been quick to cancel their nuclear plans after accidents in other countries."
AP Photo
April 21, 2011
"Using Refugees as Weapons"
International Herald Tribune
By Kelly M. Greenhill, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"In 2006, and again in 2008, Qaddafi extracted from the E.U. additional financial aid and equipment (such as boats) that could be used for migration enforcement. In late 2010, the E.U. and Libya concluded a further £500 million accord, which succeeded in stopping, or at least demonstrably slowing, the flow of people across the Mediterranean — until the outbreak of unrest in Tunisia."
AP Photo
April 14, 2011
"Academic Stovepipes Undermine U.S. Security"
World Politics Review
By Joan Johnson-Freese and Thomas M. Nichols, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2008–2011
"Missile defense represents the most severe collision of space, nuclear weapons and politics. Accustomed to technological miracles, Americans assume that technical problems can always be fixed with enough money. Engineers are not asked if missile defense is a viable solution to the horrific threat of nuclear warheads carried on missiles, and political analysts do not care about the difficulties involved in developing hardware. In the end, this disconnect could produce a situation where a U.S. president is asked to rely on a system that technical experts cannot assure him will work but that political advisers insist must be brandished."
AP Photo
April 6, 2011
"U.S.-China Relationship: A Shift in Perceptions of Power"
Los Angeles Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"It is likely that China's leaders will draw back somewhat from the overly assertive posture that has proved so costly. Hu's stated desire to cooperate on terrorism, nonproliferation and clean energy should help reduce tensions, but powerful domestic interest groups in export industries and the People's Liberation Army want to limit economic and military cooperation. And most important, given the increasing nationalism of the Chinese people that one sees on display in the blogosphere, it will be difficult for top Chinese leaders to change their policies dramatically."
