AFGHANISTAN
Winter 2009-10
Belfer Center Newsletter Winter 2009-10
Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
The Winter 2009-10 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. In this issue, Belfer Center scholars analyze the war in Afghanistan and potential impacts of options available to President Obama at this fork in the road. Center experts also offer commentary on how to prevent or live with a nuclear-armed Iran. The newsletter highlights U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a Harvard Kennedy School alum now a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and Paula Dobriansky, former undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs and current senior fellow with the Belfer Center.
The Winter 2009-10 newsletter also features: the launch of a new Belfer Center initiative - Agricultural Innovation in Africa – headed by Calestous Juma; a discussion of biofuels as a possible solution for the developing world with Henry Lee; and a look at “Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture” by Mohammed Al-Juaied and Adam Whitmore. In addition, this issue welcomes Melissa Hathaway and discusses her work with the Belfer Center’s cyber security initiative. The newsletter also pays tribute to Ernest May, world-renowned historian of international relations and foreign policy and a long-time Belfer Center colleague and member of the Center’s board of directors.
Belfer Center Photo
Winter 2009-10
"Analyzing the War in Afghanistan: Obama's Fork in the Road"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
As President Barack Obama continues to weigh the impacts of American presence in Afghanistan, the Belfer Center's Graham Allison, Meghan O'Sullivan, and Rory Stewart offer their comments on the situation at this fork in the road.
Winter 2009-10
"From the Director"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
President Obama is facing two of the most important foreign policy decisions of his presidency: whether to Americanize the Afghanistan war, and how to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. In thinking about these issues - as with many others lately - I find myself reflecting on my friend Ernest May, Charles Warren Professor of History and a longtime member of the Belfer Center board of directors, who passed away in the spring. Ernie had impeccable judgment about questions like these - not only intellectual acumen, but also a concern about the real world. As my colleague Joe Nye has said, he was an extraordinary model for what the Harvard Kennedy School is all about.
Tom Fitzsimmons
Winter 2009-10
"How to Prevent or Live with a Nuclear-Armed Iran"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
As the debate continues over actions the U.S. and international community should take to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon - or using it if built - experts from the Belfer Center and Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer their analyses and advice.
U.S. Senate
Winter 2009-10
"Q&A with U.S. Senator Jack Reed"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
An alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School, Francis (Jack) Reed was elected to the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island in 1996. A leader on defense, education, and health care issues in the Senate, Reed is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. Prior to his Senate election, he represented his state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reed served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1979, earning a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School in 1973. In 1982, he received a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Winter 2009-10
"Spotlight with Paula Dobriansky"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach
Paula Dobrianskey is a senior fellow with Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She previously served as undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs for the Bush administration, and also was a senior vice president and head of the Washington office for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Winter 2009-10
"Notable Quotes"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Beth Maclin, Communications Assistant
Notable quotes from opeds and testimonies.
Winter 2009-10
"Hot off the Presses"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Susan M. Lynch, Program Assistant, International Security Program; Web Manager, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program
New and notable books from the Belfer Center.
AP Photo
November 11, 2009
"The Big Impact of Small Footprints"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By Thomas Hegghammer, Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
"The power of small incidents has increased in the past decade thanks to the Internet. Increasing bandwidth, cheaper digital cameras and fast-learning activists have turned the world wide web into a giant propaganda tool which can generate powerful visual messages and project them instantly to a global audience. The smallest detail can be dramatically enlarged and turned into a symbol of 'Muslim suffering at the hands of non-Muslims.' On jihadi discussion forums such as Faloja (named after the Iraqi city whose 2004 battles between jihadis and U.S. forces made it an icon of Muslim suffering), high-quality video productions appear on a daily basis. The relationship between objective physical destruction and jihadi mobilization has never been less linear."
AP Images
November 10, 2009
"Afghanistan is Neither Vietnam nor Iraq"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Afghanistan has little in common with either Vietnam or Iraq in terms of history, geography, culture, or politics. There is, however, a more apt analogy, and it involves the very area in dispute."
