About

Welcome to the International Security Program (ISP). We are part of the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as the oldest research program of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Although located within the School of Government, ISP is not a degree program.

ISP addresses the most important challenges to U.S. national security and international security in the quarter century ahead. As the first issue of the journal International Security stated in 1976, "we define international security broadly to include the full array of factors that have a direct bearing on the structure of the international system and the sovereignty of its members, with particular emphasis on the use, threat, and control of force."

Program researchers analyze security issues rigorously, draw prescriptive conclusions, and communicate their recommendations directly to makers of public policy and shapers of public opinion. The Program also seeks to advance scholarship in security studies by contributing to significant academic debates through its own research activities and by publishing the leading peer-reviewed journal in the field, International Security. Each year ISP develops and trains new talent in security studies by hosting pre- and postdoctoral research fellows. The Program also created and continues to publish a book series, the Belfer Center Studies in International Security, to provide an outlet for policy-oriented research and analysis in the field of international security.

Since the early 1990s, the International Security Program has led an international effort to recognize the threat of terror, analyze its causes, and recommend what the United States should do to prevent and fight it. Several experts in the International Security Program have authored important works in the field of terrorism.

On our pages, you will find information about our research projects, our publications, and the faculty, fellows, and staff associated with the program.

Staff

New Research Fellows

Wes Adams (Air Force Fellow)
Nicholas D. Anderson
Paul Behringer (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy)
Elena Chachko 
Dina Esfandiary
Stephanie Freeman (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy)
Mariya Grinberg
Daniel Jacobs (Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow)
William James (Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow)
Philip Andrew Martin
Aroop Mukharji (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy)
Anina Schwarzenbach 

Joint w/ the Cyber Security Project

Tyler Jost

Joint w/ Project on Managing the Atom

Rebecca Davis Gibbons
Tory Kindrick (Air Force Fellow)
Christopher Lawrence
Viet Phuong Nguyen
Sébastien Philippe (Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow)
Cameron Tracy (Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow)
WU Riqiang
Benjamin Zala (Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow)

Returning Research Fellows

David Allen (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy)
Christopher Anzalone
Chuck Freilich
Payam Ghalehdar
Kelly Greenhill
Ayako Kobayoshi
A. Bradley Potter
Benjamin Rhode (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy) Fall 2018
Calder Walton (Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy)

Joint w/ Project on Managing the Atom

Reid Pauly
Katlyn Turner

ISP Associates

Michael Beckley
Paul Fraioli
Elmar Hellendoorn
Sean Lynn-Jones (Spring 2019)
Frank O'Donnell (joint w/ Project on Managing the Atom) Fall 2018
Richard Rosecrance
Andrew Taffer