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AFGHANISTAN WAR, RECONSTRUCTION

2009

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.

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

"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."

AP Photo

November 2009

"Afghans on the Taliban"

Policy Memo

By Sabrina Roshan

By and large, the people of Afghanistan are driven by a desire for administration and order - not by money or supreme ideology. Despite its oppressive tactics, the Taliban regime has managed to seize power and sustain it by filling a vacuum of social instability. Wardak province, which lies just two hours outside of Kabul, is a major Taliban stronghold in central Afghanistan today. The Taliban's seizure of power in Wardak serves as a microcosm of the social and political dynamics at play in the entire country. If left unchecked, more and more parts of Afghanistan risk failing into the hands of these non-governmental, rebel powers.

November 4, 2009

"Muddling Through: How Development's Past Shapes Its Future"

Op-Ed

By David Ekbladh, Research Fellow, International Security Program

International development is back. President Barack Obama has given it significance in U.S. strategy not seen since the Cold War. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's much touted "Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review," emphasizes her own belief that it is, "a core pillar of American power."

Targeting Civilians in War

Targeting Civilians in War

Accidental harm to civilians in warfare often becomes an occasion for public outrage, from citizens of both the victimized and the victimizing nation. In this vitally important book on a topic of acute concern for anyone interested in military strategy, international security, or human rights, Alexander B. Downes reminds readers that democratic and authoritarian governments alike will sometimes deliberately kill large numbers of civilians as a matter of military strategy. What leads governments to make such a choice?

International Security

The Summer 2009 issue of the quarterly journal International Security is now available. It includes articles by Matthew Fuhrmann, Elizabeth Stanley, Daniel Lake, Christopher Layne, and more.

Journal homepage ›

Securing the Bomb 2008

Securing the Bomb 2008

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Project on Managing the Atom Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Bunn provides a comprehensive assessment of efforts to secure and remove vulnerable nuclear stockpiles around the world, and a detailed action plan for reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism. Securing the Bomb 2008 was commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). The full report, with additional information on the threat of nuclear terrorism, is available on the NTI website.

Afghanistan Experts

see all Afghanistan researchers ›

Policy Memo

Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

Why do terrorist attacks frequently succeed, even though later investigations almost always show that warnings had been available but were either misunderstood or ignored? Conventional wisdom, as seen in the 9/11 Commission Report, holds that disasters such as the 9/11 attacks have been caused by failures of analytical imagination, a lack of long-term strategic intelligence on the threat, and organizational limitations that prevent the U.S. intelligence community from being able to “connect the dots” of the existing intelligence.

EMAIL UPDATES

New Policy Memo

Homeland Security: How to Improve Interoperability for State and Local Responders

One of the most important lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is that, in order to respond successfully, local agencies must be able to exchange information in real time. In the past seven years, the federal government has given millions of dollars to state and local governments with the goal of improving interoperability programs. However, state and local politics often get in the way of effective use of the money. Our research provides insight and recommendations into how state and local governments can improve the effectiveness of these programs.

Intrastate Conflict Program

The Program on Intrastate Conflict analyzes the causes of ethnic, religious, and other intercommunal conflict, and seeks to identify practical ways to prevent and limit such conflict.

Intrastate Conflict homepage ›

International Security Program

The International Security Program (ISP) addresses the most pressing threats to U.S. national interests and international security.

International Security homepage ›

ALL TOPICS

AFGHANISTAN WAR, RECONSTRUCTION

2009

Targeting Civilians in War

International Security

Securing the Bomb 2008

Afghanistan Experts

Policy Memo

EMAIL UPDATES

Get the latest research on the most important international topics

New Policy Memo

Intrastate Conflict Program

International Security Program