INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE
AP Photo
May 21, 2012
"It Plays Well in Tel Aviv, But How Does It Play in Peoria?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Invariably, Iranians in and around the academic pressure cooker of Cambridge, Mass. will tell you that the one thing that will not work on the Iranian psyche is threatening language. This may or may not be true. Perhaps we will find out on May 23rd, when the Iranians meet in Baghdad with the West, the Chinese and the Russians on Iran's nuclear program."
AP Photo
May 21, 2012
"Europe's Other Challenge: Immigration"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"In the same way that the fiscal crisis is pitting northern and central Europe against southern Europe, the refugee challenge is making similar distinctions. Those fleeing instability are mostly heading to Europe's southern borders — Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Even such large numbers are manageable, though challenging, but the stresses that go along with such an influx have contributed to an already raw bitterness about the disparate obligations of member states."
Mark Wilson/Getty
May 21, 2012
"How To Avoid a War with Iran"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
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 and Abbas Maleki, Senior Associate, International Security Program
Observers would be forgiven for dismissing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as Kabuki theater. Despite years of on-again, off-again efforts, after all, fears of war continue to simmer. Such frustrations are understandable -- but they may not be entirely justified.
May 7, 2012
"How It Went Down"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Time
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
"While journalists have provided a number of histories of the events that led to bin Laden's death, the purpose of this analysis is to examine White House decisionmaking for lessons that can be applied to future foreign policy challenges."
In a TIME magazine cover story, Belfer Center Director Graham Allison writes about decisions behind the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Allison, whose analysis is the result of more than 100 hours of interviews, is author of the prize-winning analysis of the 1971 Cuban Missile Crisis, Essence of Decision.
(AP Photo/Iranian President's Office)
May 24, 2012
"How Close is Iran to Exploding its First Nuclear Bomb?"
Op-Ed, Scientific American
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
Belfer Center Director Graham Allison writes in Scientific American that while it is unclear whether Iran has decided to develop a nuclear weapon, it has over the past decade been "cautiously, but steadily, putting in place all the elements it needs to construct a nuclear weapon in short order."
Allison argues that the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb might be to "aggressively explore the offer made by Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last fall to end all enrichment beyond LEU in exchange for the purchase of fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor."
March 2012
"On the Use of Offensive Cyber Capabilities: A Policy Analysis on Offensive US Cyber Policy"
Paper
By Robert Belk and Matthew Noyes
This paper offers analysis and policy recommendations for use and response to various forms of cyber action for Offensive Military Cyber Policy. It establishes a pragmatic policy-relevant, effects-based ontology for categorizing cyber capabilities, and develops a comprehensive framework for cyber policy analysis. Furthermore, it demonstrates the utility of the cyber policy analysis framework by analyzing six key categories of external cyber actions identified by our ontology, which range the entire spectrum of cyber activity. Lastly, this work develops actionable policy recommendations from our analysis for cyber policy makers while identifying critical meta-questions.
AP Photo
May 17, 2012
"Urging Women to Be All That You Can't Be"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"For Democrats, advocating for women's equal rights in the military is less complicated than contending with the reproductive and health issues that have drawn most of the gender focus this election season. Since most Americans have no interaction with the military, which constitutes less than 1 percent of the population, the issue is largely theoretical and therefore much safer for politicians. Few Americans actually know a woman who wants to be in combat; by saying that such women should be allowed to follow their dreams, Obama isn't alienating anyone except those who still claim that women aren't up to the job."
(Rex Features via AP Images)
May 17, 2012
"NATO: When I'm Sixty-Four"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School and David Manning
Nicholas R. Burns and David Manning, former ambassadors to NATO from their respective countries, respond to the question of whether NATO is still needed. They write: “Will you still need me when I’m sixty-four?” sang the Beatles. NATO is now in its 64th year, and in our view the answer is an unequivocal yes. The alliance still underwrites our security and underpins our prosperity. It gives us a global voice that no member state would enjoy individually. And if “it’s good to talk” in a dangerous world, there is no better trans-Atlantic forum.
Summer 2012
Belfer Center Newsletter Summer 2012
Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
The Summer 2012 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This edition highlights Belfer Center involvement with the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit and other activities to help shape debate on national and global security. We also spotlight Henry Kissinger’s return to Harvard and his remarks about power and politics, James Baker’s acceptance of the 2012 Great Negotiator Award, and Graham Allison’s cover story in TIME magazine describing decisions behind the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. And more....
Summer 2012
Center Helps Influence Debate on National and Global Security
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
Belfer Center scholars traveled to South Korea this spring to help influence the Second Nuclear Security Summit. They joined an overflow public forum in Cambridge with Henry Kissinger to reflect on past American foreign policy choices. And they brainstormed with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on how the United States should face future security challenges....With these events and many others packed into just a few weeks this spring, the Belfer Center seemed to be at the heart of an intense election-year debate on the right strategies for national and global security.
