INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
November 12, 2008
"Global Threats, Coordinated Responses"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"The Network of Global Agenda Councils is one example of how like-minded people around the world can address the growing challenges and threats that are no longer confined to a single sector, country or region."
Winter 2008-09
"Q&A with Nicholas Burns"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
R. Nicholas (Nick) Burns, formerly the highest-ranking career diplomat at the U.S. Department of State, has been appointed Harvard Kennedy School professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics with the Belfer Center and will also serve on the Center’s board of directors. Burns has an extensive background in diplomacy and international affairs, having served most recently as U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs (2005-08). He was a lead member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's senior management team. We asked Burns about his plans at the Belfer Center and his views on some of the foremost international challenges facing the United States.
October 22, 2008
Ban Ki-moon Delivers Call to Action on Global Challenges
News
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon MPA 1984 called Tuesday for the international community to move quickly and boldly in addressing urgent global challenges.
October 8, 2008
"The High Cost of Incompetent Governance"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
In times like this -- global economic crisis -- the dominance of exclusively oil-fueled economies in the Arab World expose a regional lack of competent governance.
August 13, 2008
"Climate of Security"
Op-Ed, The Korea Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations
"...Climate change will put stress on weak governments in poor countries and may lead to an increase in the number of failed states and become an indirect source of international conflict. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon argued in 2007 that the Darfur conflict 'began as an ecological crisis, arising in part from climate change.'
Such direct and indirect effects from human activity, while not malevolent in intention like terrorism, argue for a broadening of our concept of security and the adoption of new policies...."
May 29, 2008
"Net Access for African Universities Would Boost Continent"
Op-Ed, Daily Yomiuri
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project
"African universities could be the continent's gateways into the global knowledge economy for local diffusion of new technologies. But this potential remains unrealized because universities and research institutes in Africa remain digitally isolated from the rest of the world. This is partly because of government neglect and lack of strategic policies on Internet access....Providing low-cost, high-speed Internet access to African universities will help Africa build the capacity it needs to solve its own problems. It is one of the most strategic investments that the G-8 countries can make in Africa in the coming few years."
March-April 2008
"Toward a Liberal Realist Foreign Policy: A Memo for the Next President"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Harvard Magazine, issue 4, volume 110
By Joseph S. Nye, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations
"On January 20, you will inherit a legacy of trouble: Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, North Korea for starters. Failure to manage any one of them could mire your presidency and sap your political support—and threaten the country’s future. At the same time, you must not let these inherited problems define your foreign policy. You need to put them in a larger context and create your own vision of how Americans should deal with the world."
February-March 2008
"Recovering American Leadership"
Journal Article, Survival, issue 1, volume 50
By Joseph S. Nye, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations
"Leaders are those who help groups create and achieve shared goals. Traditionally, the leaders in international politics have been the most powerful states. However, while hard military power counts for more in the context of international politics than it does in democratic domestic politics, even in international relations conquest, or pure coercion, is not leadership, but mere dictation. Disproportionate power, sometimes called 'hegemony', has been associated with leadership, but appeals to values and ideology also matter, even for a hegemon...."
January 17, 2008
Ruthless Humanitarianism
Book Chapter
By Doug Brooks and Matan Chorev, Research Assistant, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Over the past twenty years, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) have become significant elements of national security arrangements, assuming many of the functions that have traditionally been undertaken by state armies. Given the centrality of control over the use of coercive force to the functioning and identity of the modern state, and to international order, these developments clearly are of great practical and conceptual interest.
This edited volume provides an interdisciplinary overview of PMSCs: what they are, why they have emerged in their current form, how they operate, their current and likely future military, political, social and economic impact, and the moral and legal constraints that do and should apply to their operation. The book focuses firstly upon normative issues raised by the development of PMSCs, and then upon state regulation and policy towards PMSCs, examining finally the impact of PMSCs on civil-military relations. It takes an innovative approach, bringing theory and empirical research into mutually illuminating contact. Includes contributions from experts in IR, political theory, international and corporate law, and economics, and also breaks important new ground by including philosophical discussions of PMSCs.
December 18, 2007
Bali Climate Change Conference: Key Takeaways
Summary Report
By Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government; Member of the Board and Joseph Aldy, Co-Director, Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements
The Bali climate change conference was a qualified success. Before we went to Bali, we observed that it will be good news if there’s no bad news coming out of the negotiations. This was achieved, and then some.
