RUSSIA AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
Presidential Press and Information Office of Russia
April 5, 2012
"Dealing With the Outside World"
Op-Ed, Russia Profile.org
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
Simon Saradzhyan writes that the past parliamentary and presidential elections have demonstrated that Putin’s domestic power base is shrinking, especially in large cities where many voters question the results of the polls and the legitimacy of Putin’s return to the Kremlin. To shore up support at home, Saradzhyan believes, "Putin could be expected to project himself as a more fervent guardian of Russia’s interests and its allies vis-à-vis the West than Medvedev while making sure his rethoric does not cross any lines that may cause substantial damage to the benefits that Russia derives from improved relations with both the United States and the EU achieved by his predecessor."
AP Photo
March 9, 2012
"Putin Redux"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
Despite protests over alleged vote-rigging, Vladimir Putin is firmly on track to reclaim the Russian presidency in May. But while Putin is poised to return to the office he vacated in 2008, the country he plans to govern is no longer the same.
AP Photo
March 5, 2012
"Putin election victory doesn't pave an easy path through his third presidential term"
Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
There was little doubt that Vladimir Putin would be elected president of Russia on Sunday and return to the Kremlin for a third term. The Central Elections Committee announced on Monday that Mr. Putin won more than 60 percent of the vote and avoided a second round. But there is also little doubt that the legitimacy of his presidency will be contested during his third term, given the scale of recent protests against his return and strong criticism of the Sunday vote, which some of the opposition leaders and independent observers condemned as unfair and fraudulent.
AP Photo
February 17, 2012
"Putin, the protest movement and political change in Russia"
Journal Article, EU Institute for Security Studies
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Nabi Abdullaev
Few leaders undertake major reforms in either domestic or foreign policy late in their rule, and Vladimir Putin – who seeks to return to the Kremlin this spring for at least six years – hardly wants to be an exception. However, should the disparate groups behind the recent unprecedented protests in Russia develop into an organised movement leading to a sustained increase in public pressure on the Kremlin, then Putin may end up pursuing far more extensive domestic political and economic reforms than he would wish.
Fall 2006
"Why Terrorism Does Not Work"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 2, volume 31
By Max Abrahms, Former Research Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Terrorism may be a choice method of political coercion at the moment, but this study finds that it is not very successful. Terrorists who attack civilian populations rather than military targets fail to achieve their policy objectives, because countries whose populations are victims of massive terrorist violence are highly unlikely to negotiate, let alone make political concessions, with terrorists whose actions imply that they will not compromise.
September 21, 2007
"U.S., Iran Need to Build Confidence"
Op-Ed, San Francisco Chronicle
By Abbas Maleki, Associate, International Security Program and Kaveh L. Afrasiabi
"...the stage is set for a thaw in U.S.-Iran relations. With sufficient political will on both sides, Washington and Tehran can achieve this by adopting concrete confidence-building measures and by imposing a mutually agreed-upon moratorium on demonizing each other."
July 20, 2007
"My Uncle 'Keri' and the Immigration Debate"
Op-Ed, Lowell Sun
By Gregory Aftandilian, Former Research Fellow, Dubai Initiative/International Security Program 2006-2007
Gregory Aftandilian reflects on his own family's history and the current debate on immigration.
AP Photo
November 2010
"Institutions for International Climate Governance"
Policy Brief
By Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has significant advantages but also real challenges as a venue for international negotiations on climate change policy. In the wake of the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) in Copenhagen, December 2009, it is important to reflect on institutional options going forward for negotiating and implementing climate change policy.
Winter 2001/02
"The United States and Terroism in Southwest Asia: September 11 and Beyond"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 3, volume 26
By Samina Ahmed, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 1998-2002
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have changed the international environment in ways that few would have imagined when the new millennium began. International Security rarely commissions articles, but the extraordinary events of September 11 deserve attention in these pages.
July 20, 2005
Worst Weapons in Worst Hands: U.S. Inaction on the Nuclear Terror Threat Since 9/11, and a Path of Action
Report
By Dr. William J. Perry, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Ashton B. Carter, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities, Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, Samuel R. Berger, General Wesley K. Clark, Former Senior Advisor, 2001-2009, Preventive Defense Project, Thomas E. Donilon, John D. Podesta, Susan E. Rice, General (ret.) John M. Shalikashvili, Former Founding Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project, Amb. Wendy R. Sherman, Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Former Founding Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project and Dr. James B. Steinberg
The gravest threat facing Americans today is a terrorist detonating a nuclear bomb in one of our cities. The National Security Advisory Group (NSAG) judges that the Bush administration is taking insufficient actions to counter this threat.
