CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
AP Photo
June 11, 2009
Observations on the Recent United Nations Security Council Resolution on North Korea
News
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
On June 12, 2009, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1874 in response to recent provocative actions by North Korea, including a second nuclear test. Chinese and Russian support for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that imposes additional sanctions is potentially significant. However, whether China in particular will support tough implementation of the resolution and will take a harder line in its bilateral relations with North Korea remains to be seen, and will ultimately determine the success or failure of efforts to reverse North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
AP Photo
June 6, 2009
"The Two-State Trap in the Mideast"
Op-Ed, The Providence Journal
By Ehud Eiran, Research Fellow, International Security Program and Nir Eisikovits
"...A weak (or even worse, a failed) Palestinian state next to Israel will most likely lead not to the end of violence, but rather to its perpetuation. This is also a dangerous dichotomy, as it does not leave room for failure despite the fact that failure may come. The Palestinian national movement is deeply divided, and the Israeli public fears — based on the lessons of the withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza — that leaving the West Bank would compromise its security. The logical conclusion from presenting a binary map for the future — two states or war — when a two-state option is highly unlikely, is that the proposed frame has a great potential to destabilize the situation, rather than calm it.
AP Photo
June 3, 2009
"Obama Should Think Chicago"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
Obama should focus on three significant issues: 1- the Arab-Israeli conflict, 2- the "resistance front" headed by Syria, Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas, and 3- the lack of democratic, rule-of-law-based governance systems in most Arab countries. And he should tell us what America wants to do about these three issues.
AP Photo
June 2009
"The Changing Face of Israel"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Richard Cincotta and Eric Kaufmann, Former Research Fellow, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
"...Ultra-Orthodox rabbis control access to marriage, conversion, and burial, effectively determining the status of non-haredi private lives across the varied Jewish community. In addition, ultra-Orthodox activists flex their political muscle by censoring advertising and movies, organizing consumer boycotts, mounting mass demonstrations, and harassing secular Jews who violate the Sabbath. Once peace-process-disinterested members of various coalition governments, ultra-Orthodox politicians now rank among the most hawkish in the Knesset, defending haredi settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Although less politically cohesive, Israeli Arab voters favor the flip side of the political spectrum, which makes moderate Israelis wonder how their democracy might function should these two groups grow to dominate the electorate."
AP Photo
June 1, 2009
"The Significance of the Settlements"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
The Obama administration has put steel into American insistence that illegal Israeli settlements must be halted. It is the important kick start to progress towards peace making.
AP Photo
May 28, 2009
"North Korea won't fire nuke ... but could sell one to Osama"
Op-Ed, The Sun
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
"The challenge for President Obama, Prime Minister Brown, members of the UN Security Council and the international community is to convince Kim Jong-il that he faces disastrous consequences."
Photo by Martha Stewart
Summer 2009
"Q&A with Rory Stewart"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Rory Stewart, Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights, Carr Center
Rory Stewart is the Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights and director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a member of the Belfer Center Board of Directors. A former officer in the British Army and deputy governate coordinator with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, Stewart spent two years walking 6,000 miles across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal - a journey he describes in his critically acclaimed book The Places in Between.
Summer 2009
"Newsmakers"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
Belfer Center Newsmakers.
Photo by Michael Casey
Summer 2009
"Center Scholars Suggest Way Ahead for U.S. in Afghanistan, Pakistan"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
"We have a clear and focused goal to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future," President Barack Obama said in a statement on March 27, 2009. Several members of the Belfer Center community comment on President Obama's plan.
AP Photo
May 21, 2009
"India's New Ruling Caste"
Op-Ed, Guatemala Times
By Appu Soman, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2007–2009
"The opportunity for personal gains through public office has made electoral politics an automatic career choice for Indian politicians' progeny. Record numbers of sons and daughters of political leaders and millionaires (and people with criminal backgrounds) contested this election. We are seeing the formation of a new Indian caste — a caste of rulers different from India's traditional Kshatriya caste — before our very eyes."
