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- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Gen. Dunford Shares Insights With National Security Fellows

| Fall 2021

Every other Tuesday, early in the morning and no matter the weather, you can usually spot 17 National Security Fellows (NSFs) making their way from different parts of Boston to a Belfer Center third-floor conference room in Cambridge. They come from all military services, the Coast Guard, Office of the Secretary of Defense, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. Their research at the Center this year covers a broad range of national security issues from governance and corruption in multiethnic societies to defense technology, artificial intelligence, and space capabilities. They are as different as their professional backgrounds suggest, but on these Tuesday mornings they are united by their eagerness to hear directly from one of the most disciplined military thinkers of our times - General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (ret.). 

Dr. Amanda Sloat presents at the Harvard Kennedy School

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

Analysis & Opinions - Future of Diplomacy Project

Conversations in Diplomacy: Amanda Sloat

| Feb. 06, 2018

In this installation of the 'Conversations in Diplomacy' podcast, Dr. Amanda Sloat, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs at the State Department, for a conversation on U.S.-Turkey relationship and the future of Syria with Faculty Director Nicholas Burns.

Karbala Iraq Shia

David Stanley/Flickr

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Affairs

Iran's Axis of Resistance Rises: How It's Forging a New Middle East

| Jan. 24, 2017

In 2006, in the midst of a fierce war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice famously stated that the world was witnessing the “birth pangs of a new Middle East.” She was right—but not in the sense she had hoped. Instead of disempowering Hezbollah and its sponsor, Iran, the war only augmented the strength and prestige of what is known as the “axis of resistance,” a power bloc that includes Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas in Palestine.

A picture taken on February 21, 2016 in a southern district of Tehran shows campaign posters of candidates running for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran.

Getty Images / Atta Kenare

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

The real threat to Arab countries is from within

| February 20, 2016

"One of the fascinating dimensions of political life across the Middle East region in recent generations has been the repeated Arab concern that some non-Arab power has hegemonic plans to dominate the entire region and rob the Arabs of their identity and rights. This applies mainly to the three principal non-Arab powers in the region — Israel, Turkey, and Iran. It is useful therefore to consider the past and current condition of these three, in order to determine if indeed they have the desire or capability of achieving hegemonic control over Arab societies..."

A video image of New York Times Journalist Anthony Shadid who died in Syria of an asthma attack in February 2012.

Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Remembering Anthony Shadid

| February 17, 2016

"How the unfolding events in northern Syria play out may well set the tone for things to follow in this region for years to come, given the many wars now taking place there among global, regional and local powers. Amidst this unprecedented situation of often desperate warring actors, I believe it is appropriate to remember this week the life and work of the late Anthony Shadid, who reported for the New York Times when he died in northern Syria exactly four years ago this week..."

Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf makes a pledge during the second co-host chaired thematic pledging session for jobs and economic development during the 'Supporting Syria and the Region' conference Feb. 4, 2016.

(AP Photo)

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

Saudi Arabia’s Master Plan Against ISIS, Assad and Iran in Syria

February 16, 2016

Last week, the spokesman for the Saudi military, General Ahmed Asseri, announced that Saudi Arabia is “is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition (against Islamic State) may agree to carry out in Syria” and that its decision to move into the war-torn country is “irreversible." However, given that the Saudis and their allies in the newly formed Islamic Coalition are conducting massive joint operational military exercises—codenamed Northern Thunder—in preparation for very possible military interventions in the near future, it’s clear that the Kingdom-led multinational coalition will not stop at ISIS....