DIRTY BOMBS
December 22, 2008
Key Takeaways from Report of the Congressionally-established Bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism
Memorandum
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
The Bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism (established by Congress) recently delivered its report to the leaders of Congress, President Bush, and the Obama-Biden transition team. Graham Allison, one of the Commissioners, outlines key takeaways from the Commission's findings.
GAO, 2001
December 10, 2008
"Securing the Bomb 2008 Next Steps to Keep Nuclear Weapons and Materials Out of Terrorist Hands Congressional Briefing"
Presentation
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
Matthew Bunn presented "Securing the Bomb 2008: Next Steps to Keep Nuclear Weapons and Materials Out of Terrorist Hands" at a Congressional briefing organized by the Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
December 2, 2008
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen Named Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center
Press Release
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications and Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy and former head of the Central Intelligence Agency's WMD and terrorism efforts, will join the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center as a senior fellow on January 19, 2009.
December 2, 2008
WMD Panel Releases Report to Congress: Belfer Center’s Graham Allison served as Commissioner
News
Graham Allison, director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, served on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which released its report today. The congressionally appointed Commission called on the President-elect and the next Congress to immediately initiate several concrete actions, unilaterally and with the international community, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons.
AP Photo
December 1, 2008
"When will Osama test Obama?"
Op-Ed, Chicago Tribune
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, vice presidential candidate Joe Biden predicted "an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of [Barack Obama]." Belfer Center Director Graham Allison argues that history is on Biden's side. "In the first year of each of the last two presidents' terms," Allison says, "Osama bin Laden has claimed the mantle of 'tester in chief'" Allison suggests three steps President-elect Obama should take to meet this threat.
November 17, 2008
"Global Nuclear Terrorism Risk Still High, Despite Progress; New Administration Must Take Immediate Steps to Reduce Dangers"
Press Release
By Sasha Talcott, Former Director of Communications and Outreach and Cathy Gwin
The world still faces a "very real" risk that terrorists could get a nuclear bomb, and the Obama Administration must make reducing that risk a top priority of U.S. security policy and diplomacy, according to Securing the Bomb 2008, a report released today.
Petr Pavelicek/IAEA
July 17, 2008
"The Security of Medical and Industrial Radioactive Sources"
Conference Paper
By Tom Bielefeld, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom and Helmut W. Fischer
Recent foiled and successful terrorist plots in Europe and the US (including two cases in the UK and Germany which included plans to design radiological dispersal devices in 2004 and 2005), clearly demonstrate that domestic or locally acting terrorist cells have become an important part of the terrorist threat picture. The uncovered “dirty bomb” – plots involved radioactive material of type or quantity that would not have caused much damage. Still, these observations underscore the necessity to revisit the issue of radioactive sources security in countries which may become the target of a radiological attack. This includes in particular countries in Europe, many of which in the past relied on sophisticated — but safety centred — regulations and functioning oversight institutions.
Summer 2008
"How American Treaty Behavior Threatens National Security"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 33
In recent years, American treaty behavior has produced growing concern among both allies and less friendly nations. On such fundamental issues as nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights, civil liberties, environmental disasters, and commerce, the United States has generated confusion and anger abroad. Such a climate is not conducive to needed cooperation in the conduct of foreign and security policy. Among U.S. actions that have caused concern are the failure to ratify several treaties; the attachment of reservations, understandings, and declarations before ratification; the failure to support a treaty regime once ratified; and treaty withdrawal. The structural and historical reasons for American treaty behavior are deeply rooted in the United States' system of government and do not merely reflect superpower arrogance.
May 2008
Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters
Book
By Richard Clarke, Faculty Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
It's not just Bush and Cheney that are to blame. The system is broken. That's the message in this provocative sequel to Against All Enemies. When Richard Clarke apologized for 9-11, he never thought that there would be so many more government failures in so short a time, but climate change, Katrina, the struggle with al Qaeda, the insecurity in cyberspace, and the failure of homeland security all bespeak a larger problem, a systemic failure. Clarke documents the failures and suggests solutions for making government work better in its most important job, protecting us.
AP Photo
April 15, 2008
Actions Now for the Day After: Findings of the Preventive Defense Day After Project
Testimony
By Ashton B. Carter, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities
PDP Co-Director Ashton B. Carter testifies before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
