More than 2500 years ago, Thucydides, the Athenian historian and general, wrote his history of the Peloponnesian War. In his oft-quoted summary, he concludes: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable.” In a forthcoming article, Graham Allison writes that “the defining question about global order for this generation is whether China and the U.S. can escape Thucydides’ Trap.”

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, has been named a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, where he will lead a major research effort on possibilities and impacts of a new strategic relationship between China and the United States. In addition, he will be a Visiting Fellow with Harvard's Institute of Politics, beginning in February 2014.

The Spring 2013 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 the Belfer Center’s deepening engagement with China.

When Lee Kuan Yew speaks, who listens? Presidents, prime ministers, chief executives, and all who care about global strategy.

Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill, two leading strategic thinkers, asked Lee Kuan Yew the toughest questions that matter most to thoughtful Americans weighing the challenges of the next quarter century. The result is their new book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World – published today by MIT Press.

The U.S. Senate on Friday unanimously confirmed Ashton B. Carter as Deputy Secretary of Defense, the second highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense.  Carter, who has served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics since 2009, is on leave from the Belfer Center’s board of directors. He was co-director of the Center’s Preventive Defense Project until leaving for government in 2009 and served as the director of the Center from 1990-93.

The Winter 2010/11 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 issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

The Summer 2010 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 issue highlights the Belfer Center's involvement with the Nuclear Security Summit, which was organized by Center alumni Gary Samore and Laura Holgate.