Past Event

Conference

Lurking Crises, Hidden Opportunities: A 2017 National Security Reality Check

Open to the Public

A few weeks before the presidential inauguration, Belfer Center experts joined top journalists from Washington to explore the major national security challenges the Trump administration will face – from cybersecurity, nuclear threats, and terrorism to Russia, China, and the Middle East.

Watch highlights of each session below or visit our YouTube page to see each event in full.

Date: Fri, Dec 16, 2016 Time: 08:30am - 01:30pm

The U.S.-Russian relations panel at the Belfer Center security conference in Washington.

Keynote Conversation

Belfer Center Director Graham Allison interviewed Center Senior Fellow Gen. David Petraeus about Trump’s foreign policy coordinates.

Cyber Threats

Cyber Threats: What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us

New York Times reporter David Sanger moderated a panel on cyber threats with former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Center Senior Fellow James “Sandy” Winnefeld, Belfer Center Cyber Security Project Director Michael Sulmeyer, and Harard Kennedy School Professor Joseph S. Nye.

U.S.-Russian Relations

U.S.-Russian Relations: How Good Can They Get?

The Belfer Center’s Director of the Defense and Intelligence Project Kevin Ryan moderated a panel on U.S.-Russian relations with President and CEO of the Center for the National Interest Dimitri Simes, Russia Matters Project Director Simon Saradzhyan, and Brookings Director of the Center on the United States and Europe Fiona Hill.

Nuclear Threats

Nuclear Threats: Are We Any Safer?

Belfer Center Executive Director for Research Gary Samore moderated a panel on nuclear threats with Center Senior Fellow William Tobey and former Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman.

U.S., China, and Thucydides’s Trap

Destined for War? U.S., China, and Thucydides’s Trap

Belfer Center Director Graham Allison moderated a panel on U.S.-China relations with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joseph S. Nye, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Center Senior Fellow James “Sandy” Winnefeld, and former World Bank President and Center Senior Fellow Robert Zoellick.

Syria and Iraq

Syria and Iraq: Darkest Before the Dawn?

Washington Post columnist and Center Senior Fellow David Ignatius moderated a panel on Syria and Iraq with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Tarek Masoud and Middle East columnist and Center Senior Fellow Rami Khouri.

Terrorism and Propaganda

Terrorism and Propaganda: Is it Hopeless?

Former State Department special representative to Muslim Communities and Belfer Center Senior Fellow Farah Pandith moderated a panel on terrorism and propaganda with former intelligence officer and Center Senior Fellow Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Juliette Kayyem, and former CIA Acting Director and Center Senior Fellow Michael Morell.

Grading the “Blob”

Grading the “Blob”: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Foreign Policy Establishment

Former Politico Editor Susan Glasser moderated a panel on the foreign policy establishment with former Ambassador and Center Senior Fellow Paula Dobriansky, former State Department Director of Policy Planning and Center Senior Fellow Jake Sullivan, and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Stephen Walt.