RUSSIA AND FORMER SOVIET UNION
Autumn 2007
The Day After: Action Following a Nuclear Blast in a U.S. City
Journal Article, Washington Quarterly, issue 4, volume 30
By Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project (on leave), Harvard & Stanford Universities, Dr. William J. Perry, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project and Dr. Michael M. May
Failure to develop a comprehensive contingency plan, such as the one proposed here, and inform the American public, where appropriate, about its particulars will only serve to amplify the devastating impact of any nuclear attack on a U.S. city
July 5, 2007
"The Lobster Summit"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush's decision to award President Vladimir Putin the unique distinction of a weekend in Kennebunkport with two American presidents flummoxed supporters and critics alike. Over the past year, no international leader has been more critical of the president than his Russian guest.
July 2, 2007
Fast Action Needed to Avert Nuclear Terror Strike on U.S.
Op-Ed, Baltimore Sun
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
Before 9/11, most Americans found the idea that international terrorists could mount an attack on their homeland and kill thousands of innocent citizens not merely unlikely but inconceivable. After nearly six years without a second attack on U.S. soil, some skeptics suggest that 9/11 was a 100-year flood. The view that terrorists are preparing even more deadly assaults seems as far-fetched to them as the possibility of terrorists crashing passenger jets into the World Trade Center did before that fateful Tuesday morning in 2001. And yet the danger of a nuclear attack by terrorists is not only very real but disturbingly likely.
Spring 2007
"Russia’s Contradictions Underscore Importance of Relationship"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Melanie Getreuer, Former Research Assistant to Graham Allison, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2006-2008
In 2001, President George W. Bush famously declared that he had looked into the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and saw a man he knew he could trust. Six years later President Bush has expressed misgivings about that assessment, doubting the Russian leader's commitment to democracy or a free press.
Spring 2007
"Center’s Efforts Impact Nuclear Policy"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
The abortive coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow in August 1991 raised in a stark and alarming way the question of who was controlling the Soviet arsenal at a moment of extraordinary political instability. The subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union raised the equally consequential question of who would inherit the Soviet nuclear arsenal. The ensuing and ongoing political instability and economic travails in Russia raised the question of the safety and security of the Russian nuclear arsenal and nuclear empire. In view of the fact that these weapons and associated nuclear materials constitute the largest potential threat to the United States and its allies, and given the potential of Russian nuclear weapons and weapons-usable materials to fuel terrorism and nuclear proliferation, this is one of the most significant security issues of the post-Cold War era. Work on the safety and security of Russian nuclear holdings soon led to concern about the adequacy of custodial arrangements for nuclear weapons and nuclear materials on a global scale. Meanwhile, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 highlighted the danger that a terrorist group might obtain nuclear weapons and inflict an even more terrible attack.
April 2007
How to Counter WMD
Book Chapter
By Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project (on leave), Harvard & Stanford Universities
Ashton B. Carter contributes a chapter to McGraw-Hill's new volume on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism.
April 2007
"Troubled Disposition: Next Steps in Dealing With Excess Plutonium"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Arms Control Today, issue 3, volume 37
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project
Matthew Bunn argues that plutonium disposition—physically transforming it into a form that would be difficult and costly to recover for use in nuclear weapons—if carried out on a large scale would “mark a key step toward deeper and less-reversible nuclear arms reductions.” But, as he documents, delays, costs, and obstacles have plagued plutonium disposition plans in both the United States and Russia.
April 2007
"Proliferation, Disarmament and the Future of the Non-Proliferation Treaty"
Book Chapter
By Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
"Why should others be taken to task when the Nuclear Five are themselves failing to comply with treaty obligations under Article VI, as others see it?"
March 2007
"Decontamination and Remediation after a Dirty Bomb Attack"
Journal Article, Nonproliferation Review, issue 1, volume 14
By Jennifer C. Bulkeley, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2008-2009; Former Research Assistant, Preventive Defense Project, 2007-2009
Article in The Nonproliferation Review
March 2007
"The Belfer Center and Nuclear Weapons Policy: Security in the Post-Cold War Era"
Summary, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
By Steven E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; Editor-in-Chief, International Security; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
"The efforts that the Center has made in addressing the nuclear challenges of the post-Cold War era are anchored in the books that it has produced on the major dimensions of the problem."
