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ECONOMICS OF NATIONAL SECURITY

2008

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.

October 13, 2008

"The Simplistic Allure of Militarism"

Op-Ed, Agence Global

By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative

Among the problems the senior American military and intelligence leaders acknowledge these days in Afghanistan are a robust and expanding heroin trade, the limited impact of the central government in Kabul, a steady stream of militants from next door Pakistan where they enjoy safe havens and popular support, and a weak economy.

Spring 2008

"Correspondence: The Role of Hierarchy in International Politics"

Journal Article, International Security, issue 4, volume 32

By Paul MacDonald, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2006-2008 and David A. Lake

Paul MacDonald responds to David Lake's Summer 2007 International Security article, "Escape from the State of Nature: Authority and Hierarchy in World Politics."

Image Credit: Martha Stewart

April 28, 2008

PDP Co-Director Carter Participates in Harvard Oil Shockwave Simulation

Press Release

PDP Co-Director Carter participates in a high-profile crisis simulation examining the economic and security implications of America’s dependency on oil.

Department of Defense

January 2008

Defense Management Challenges in the Post-Bush Era

Book Chapter

By Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities

Dr. Ashton Carter discusses the resource management challenges facing American defense leaders in the coming decade.

2007

AP Photo

October-December 2007

"United States Hegemony and the New Economics of Defense"

Journal Article, Security Studies, issue 4, volume 16

By Jonathan D. Caverley, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007-2008

This paper proposes an alternate theory of technological hegemony that explains the U.S. policy of massive R&D investment in both the late Cold War and the current era of American preponderance. Modern weapons' complexity and economies of scale tend to produce monopolies, and the value chain for the production of these monopolistic goods is dominated by the systems integration techniques of prime contracting firms. In turn these prime contractors remain largely enthralled by U.S. market power. The United States gains international influence by controlling the distribution of these weapons. Put simply, technology with international political effects is likely to have international political origins.

Fall 2007

Tend to Turkey

Journal Article, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

By Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Founding Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project

Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall's article in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.

Autumn 2007

The Day After: Action Following a Nuclear Blast in a U.S. City

Journal Article, The Washington Quarterly, issue 4, volume 30

By Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities, Dr. William J. Perry, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project and Dr. Michael M. May

Failure to develop a comprehensive contingency plan, such as the one proposed here, and inform the American public, where appropriate, about its particulars will only serve to amplify the devastating impact of any nuclear attack on a U.S. city

July 24, 2007

Time to Heal U.S.-Turkey Wounds

Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School

Sunday's elections give a fresh opportunity to fix a terrible collapse in bilateral ties. Imagine a stable, prosperous, secular Muslim democracy in the Middle East. The dream of just such an outcome was the worthiest, albeit least likely, of President Bush's stated aspirations for the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the way in which the administration has pursued this objective has damaged what remains the best hope for a successful moderate Muslim democracy in the region: Turkey.

July 5, 2007

"The Lobster Summit"

Op-Ed, The Boston Globe

By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush's decision to award President Vladimir Putin the unique distinction of a weekend in Kennebunkport with two American presidents flummoxed supporters and critics alike. Over the past year, no international leader has been more critical of the president than his Russian guest.

Targeting Civilians in War

Targeting Civilians in War

Accidental harm to civilians in warfare often becomes an occasion for public outrage, from citizens of both the victimized and the victimizing nation. In this vitally important book on a topic of acute concern for anyone interested in military strategy, international security, or human rights, Alexander B. Downes reminds readers that democratic and authoritarian governments alike will sometimes deliberately kill large numbers of civilians as a matter of military strategy. What leads governments to make such a choice?

International Security

The Fall 2008 issue of the quarterly journal International Security is now available. It includes articles by Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni and Calvert Jones, Sumit Ganguly, S. Paul Kapur, and more.

Journal homepage ›

Securing the Bomb 2008

Securing the Bomb 2008

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Project on Managing the Atom Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Bunn provides a comprehensive assessment of efforts to secure and remove vulnerable nuclear stockpiles around the world, and a detailed action plan for reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism. Securing the Bomb 2008 was commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). The full report, with additional information on the threat of nuclear terrorism, is available on the NTI website.

Security & Defense Experts

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Policy Memo

Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

Why do terrorist attacks frequently succeed, even though later investigations almost always show that warnings had been available but were either misunderstood or ignored? Conventional wisdom, as seen in the 9/11 Commission Report, holds that disasters such as the 9/11 attacks have been caused by failures of analytical imagination, a lack of long-term strategic intelligence on the threat, and organizational limitations that prevent the U.S. intelligence community from being able to “connect the dots” of the existing intelligence.

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Homeland Security: How to Improve Interoperability for State and Local Responders

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.

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ECONOMICS OF NATIONAL SECURITY

2008

2007

Targeting Civilians in War

International Security

Securing the Bomb 2008

Security & Defense Experts

Policy Memo

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