SOUTHEAST ASIA
August 2003
"The [F]utility of Barbarism: Assessing the Impact of the Systematic Harm of Noncombatants in War"
Conference Paper
By Ivan Arreguin-Toft, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2002-2009
Under what conditions does barbarism — a state or non-state actor’s deliberate and systematic injury of non-combatants during a conflict — help or hinder its military and political objectives?
March 2012
"Incentives and Stability of International Climate Coalitions: An Integrated Assessment"
Discussion Paper
By Valentina Bosetti, Carlo Carraro, Enrica De Cian, Emanuele Massetti and Massimo Tavoni
"A successful international climate policy framework will have to meet two conditions, build a coalition of countries that is potentially effective and give each member country sufficient incentives to join and remain in this coalition. Such coalition should be capable of delivering ambitious emission reduction even if some countries do not take mitigation action. In addition, it should meet the target without exceedingly high mitigation costs and deliver a net benefit to member countries as a whole. The novel contribution of this paper is mostly methodological, but it also adds a better qualification of well-known results that are policy relevant."
November 2010
"Aid Under Fire: Development Projects and Civil Conflict"
Discussion Paper
By Benjamin Crost and Patrick B. Johnston, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2010–2011: International Security Program/Intrastate Conflict Program, 2009–2010
An increasing amount of development aid is targeted to areas affected by civil conflict; some of it in the hope that aid will reduce conflict by weakening popular support for insurgent movements. But if insurgents know that development projects will weaken their position, they have an incentive to derail them, which may exacerbate conflict.
May 2010
"A Pillar's Progress: How Development's History Shapes U.S. Options in the Present"
Discussion Paper
By David Ekbladh, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2009–2010
With the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the "War on Terror" that followed, development aid was shoved back into the spotlight. Many ideas and institutions that had lain dormant in international affairs, insinuated their return into U.S. strategy and the agenda of the international community. "Nation building" in Afghanistan and Iraq along with a hope that development would stifle the appeal of extremist ideologies and the movements that they stirred has returned development to a prominent place in U.S. grand strategy.
June, 2006
Taxes and Charges to Manage Oil Demand in Australia: Policy Recommendations for the Australian Government
Discussion Paper
Assesses the options available to the Australian federal government to reduce demand for gasoline and diesel through taxation and charges
Martha Stewart Photo
November 15, 2011
"Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy: The Next Wave"
Event Summary
By James F. Smith, Communications Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Industry and academic experts from Harvard, MIT, and other Boston-area universities met for a three-day conference in September 2011 to examine policy choices facing the fast-changing field of information and communications technology at the intersection of public policy. The conference was convened by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affair’s Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project (ICTPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School.
November 28, 2007
Virtual Book Tour: Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations
Highlight
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
“This volume makes an unparalleled contribution to the growing and vital field of measurement and human rights. Rotberg offers a useful categorization and assessment of repressive and 'rogue' states, allowing us to measure the extent of repressive state behavior more accurately. His work should embolden external critiques and facilitate more transparent and accountable foreign policy."
Sarah Sewall, Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University.
AP Photo
May 6, 2008
"Burma: Poster Child for Entrenched Repression"
In the News
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
In late April, President Bush declared that the upcoming elections in Burma would not be “free, fair, or credible” and that the U.S. would impose further sanctions on the state-owned business sector, in order to increase pressure on the ruling junta.
AP Photo
March 2012
"China and Pakistan: Fair-Weather Friends"
Journal Article, Yale Journal of International Affairs, issue 1, volume VII
By Michael Beckley, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2011–2012
Two assumptions dominate current debates on US foreign policy toward Pakistan. First, Pakistan shares a robust "all-weather" friendship with China centered on core national interests. Second, Pakistan's ability to turn to China in times of need insulates it from US pressure and renders hardline US policies counterproductive. Both of these assumptions are mistaken.
AP Photo
January/February 2012
"Nuclear Weapons 2011: Momentum Slows, Reality Returns"
Journal Article, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, issue 1, volume 68
By Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
In the Doomsday Clock issue of the Bulletin, the author takes a look at five events that unfolded in 2011 and that seem certain to cast a powerful shadow in months and years to come. No new breakthroughs occurred, the author writes, adding that 2012 could be a much more difficult year.
