HOMELAND SECURITY
Martha Stewart
October 30, 2008
Brent Scowcroft Addresses International Issues Facing the Next President
News
Former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft called on the next president to engage in civilized dialogue on foreign policy during a Forum address Wednesday evening (Oct. 29) at Harvard Kennedy School.
Liz Lynch
Winter 2008-09
"Belfer Center Alums Launch Center for New American Strategy (CNAS)"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
Kurt Campbell and Michèle Flournoy, both alums of the Belfer Center, founded The Center for a New American Strategy in February 2007. The organization has grown into an intellectual, nonpartisan national think tank focusing on national security and defense.
August 22, 2008
Memo to President-elect McBama
Memorandum, Aspen Strategy Group
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
Graham Allison writes in a memo to a fictional President-elect McBama on the suject of nuclear terrorism, "You pledged that you would make preventing this catastrophe an organizing principle of your administration. This memo provides a brief outline of strategy and organization to fulfill that promise."
Summer 2008
"The Window of Vulnerability That Wasn’t: Soviet Military Buildup in the 1970s—A Research Note"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 33
By Pavel Podvig
The Soviet strategic modernization program of the 1970s was one of the most consequential developments of the Cold War. Deployment of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and the dramatic increase in the number of strategic warheads in the Soviet arsenal created a sense of vulnerability in the United States that was, to a large degree, responsible for the U.S. military buildup of the late 1970s and early 1980s and the escalation of Cold War tensions during that period. U.S. assessments concluded that the Soviet Union was seeking to achieve a capability to fight and win a nuclear war. Estimates of missile accu¬racy and silo hardness provided by the U.S. intelligence community led many in the United States to conclude that the Soviet Union was building a strategic missile force capable of destroying most U.S. missiles in a counterforce strike and of surviving a subsequent nuclear exchange. Soviet archival documents that have recently become available demonstrate that this conclusion was wrong. The U.S. estimates substantially overestimated the accuracy of the Soviet Union's missiles and the degree of silo reinforcement. As the data demonstrate, the Soviet missile force did not have the capability to launch a successful first strike. Moreover, the data strongly suggest that the Soviet Union never attempted to acquire a first-strike capability, concentrating instead on strategies based on retaliation.
May 29, 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 Dr. Ashton B. Carter, 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.
April 15, 2008
PDP Co-Director Carter testifies before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Press Release
PDP Co-Director Dr. Ashton B. Carter testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs at its hearing on "Nuclear Terrorism: Confronting the Challenges of the Day After."
April 2008
The Language of Counter-Terrorism: When Message Received is Not Message Intended
Report
By Jim Armstrong, Candace J. Chin and Uri Leventer
This report, originally prepared this report for the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, examines the role of language as part of the arsenal of counter-terrorism operations. They argue that, by modifying the words they use to talk about international terrorism, Western leaders begin the process of winning Muslim hearts and minds.
March 14, 2008
"Hezbollah is Angry: A Time for Vigilance"
Op-Ed, The Providence Journal
By Joshua Gleis, Associate, International Security Program
"There is no doubt that a heightened level of awareness is necessary today. Hezbollah pioneered the use of suicide bombings. It has an advanced global network, sophisticated operatives, and financial and military backing from Iran and Syria. The knowledge, experience and means to operate in multiple countries around the world exist, proven by actions they have taken in the past from Germany to Argentina to Israel. While Imad Mughniyeh is gone, the threat remains. And thus our vigilance must persevere as well."
AP Photo
March 3, 2008
Homeland Security: How to Improve Interoperability for State and Local Responders
Policy Memo
By Erica Chenoweth, Associate, International Security Program and Susan Clarke
One of the most important lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is that, in order to respond successfully, local agencies must be able to exchange information in real time. In the past seven years, the federal government has given millions of dollars to state and local governments with the goal of improving interoperability programs. However, state and local politics often get in the way of effective use of the money. Our research provides insight and recommendations into how state and local governments can improve the effectiveness of these programs.
