101 Past Events

Korean Peninsula at night.

NASA

Conference - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

4th Korean Security Summit at Harvard: “Korea – An Oracle of Global Trends"

Tue., Apr. 11, 2023 - Thu., Apr. 13, 2023

Taubman Building - Allison Dining Room, 5th Floor

During April 11-13, 2023, the Korea Project convened the 4th Korean Security Summit at Harvard. Our theme of “Korea – An Oracle of Global Trends” continued the exploration of how quickly various Korea-related functional issues play out with global implications. This year, we aimed to provide unique Korea-connected insights into global trends ranging from bolstering deterrence to navigating increasing control of critical technologies like chips to curbing cybercriminals’ revenue generation from crypto theft. Day 1 began with Opening Remarks by KIM Gheewhan (President, Korea Foundation), Eric Rosenbach (Co-Director, Belfer Center), and Prof. Nicholas Harkness (Director, Korea Institute) to formally announce the establishment of a new endowment fund for the Korea Project.

The Honorable Dr. PARK Jin (Minister of Foreign Affairs, ROK) delivered Congratulatory Remarks. Top researchers of Korean security issues, senior ROK and U.S. practitioners, and next-generation scholars provided key findings from their respective research work over the course of the Summit. YOU Kijun (Consul General, ROK Consulate General in Boston) delivered Closing Remarks. Through the annual Summit series, the Korea Project continues to advance its mission of growing Korean security studies at Harvard and beyond.

The Belfer Center’s Korea Project acknowledges the generous support of the Korea Foundation.

 Members of the 576th Flight Test Squadron monitor an operational test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile, March 27, 2015, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The intercontinental ballistic missile test launch program demonstrates the operational credibility of the Minuteman III and ensures the United States’ ability to maintain a strong, credible nuclear deterrent as a key element of U.S. national security and the security of U.S. allies and partners.

USAF Photo/Michael Peterson

Seminar - Open to the Public

Dilemmas of a Tripolar Nuclear World: Implications for U.S. Extended Nuclear Deterrence in Europe

Thu., Dec. 15, 2022 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speaker: Linde Desmaele, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow, Security Studies Program, MIT; Senior Associate Researcher, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Free University of Brussels (VUB)

Linde Desmaele presents insights from her ongoing research project about the impact of the unfolding shift to a tripolar nuclear age on the United States’ extended nuclear deterrence commitment to Europe. She proposes a framework to account for implications of the evolution from a Eurocentric nuclear deterrence regime to a world in which the United States faces two nuclear power competitors.

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar:
https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0vceCprT4oGtDWYUCLPtCQv38JSuzntwNY

A computer keyboard in blue lighting

Félix Besombes/Unsplash

Conference - Open to the Public

North Korean Cyber Operations: At the Nexus of Geopolitics, Technology, and Policy

Thu., Nov. 3, 2022 | 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Online

The North Korea Cyber Working Group’s (NK CWG) second annual conference will take a deep dive on the role of technology and geopolitics in North Korean cyber activities, drawing on participants’ expertise and original research. Following the hosts’ welcome, Stanford University Hoover Fellow Jacquelyn Schneider will deliver keynote remarks. Two sets of panelists hailing from academia, government, and the private sector will then convene to lend color to the broader conversation. The first panel will discuss emerging North Korean cyber threats and explore novel approaches to countering them. The second panel will consider the geopolitical implications of North Korean cyber operations, as well as opportunities for international cooperation.

This event is co-sponsored by the Korea Project, the Cyber Project, and the North Korea Cyber Working Group.

The hosts acknowledge the generous support of the SBS Foundation Research Fund at Harvard  Universitys Korea Institute.

A television screen shows a North Korean missile launch.

AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Understanding North Korea: Strategic Goals, Tactical Actions

Thu., Oct. 13, 2022 | 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Taubman Building - Allison Dining Room, 5th Floor

The Korea Project invites members of the Harvard community to join us for an off-the-record event with Sydney Seiler, the National Intelligence Officer for North Korea. This Analytic Tradecraft Series event will focus on Seiler's analytic methodologies for understanding North Korea within the broad context of its worldview, identity, and strategic goals, and how he applies these methodologies to gain insights into the way in which North Korea supports such goals.

RSVPs are required for this in-person event open only to members of the Harvard community. Light refreshments will be served.

This event is co-sponsored by the Korea Project and the Korea Institute.

Korean Peninsula at night.

NASA

Conference - Open to the Public

3rd Harvard Korean Security Summit: “Korea – A Catalyst of Global Trends”

Tue., July 19, 2022 - Thu., July 21, 2022

Online

During July 19-21, 2022, the Korea Project convened the 3rd Harvard Korean Security Summit. Our theme of “Korea – A Catalyst of Global Trends” explored how quickly various Korea-related functional issues play out with global implications. Korea cases provide unique insights into global trends ranging from ongoing efforts to change leader-level calculus (2017 Korean Missile Crisis) to the ROK’s designs for bolstering tech supply chain resilience to the DPRK’s expanding use of cryptocurrency theft for funding the regime. Dr. Geun Lee (President, Korea Foundation) delivered the Korea Foundation’s Opening Remarks, and Natalie Colbert (Executive Director, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School) delivered the Belfer Center’s Opening Remarks. The Honorable ROK Foreign Minister Dr. Park Jin delivered Congratulatory Remarks. We heard from top researchers of Korean security issues, senior ROK and U.S. practitioners, and next-generation scholars, who provided key findings from their respective research work. ROK Consul General Kijun You delivered Closing Remarks. Through the annual Summit series, the Korea Project continues to advance its mission of growing Korean security studies at Harvard and beyond.

The Belfer Center’s Korea Project acknowledges the generous support of the Korea Foundation.

Book cover for The Twilight Struggle

Yale University Press

Seminar - Open to the Public

Hal Brands — The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today

Thu., Mar. 24, 2022 | 4:30pm - 5:45pm

Online

As the United States faces alignment between a violently resurgent Russia and a full-spectrum competitor in China, join the Belfer Center's Applied History Project for an open session of our Applied History Working Group. Its members—distinguished historians and public servants—study the past to illuminate the most pressing challenges we face today.

North Korean missiles showcased during a military parade in January 2021.

Associated Press

Seminar - Open to the Public

In Defense of a Bold U.S. Approach toward North Korea

Wed., June 30, 2021 | 3:30pm

Online

Join us as former ROK Foreign Minister Young-kwan Yoon provides an overview of the key findings and policy recommendations from his research as the Korea Project’s inaugural Senior Visiting Scholar.

The Belfer Center’s Korea Project acknowledges the generous support of the Korea Foundation.

Members of the public tour the Atoms For Peace mobile exhibit. The program was launched under President Eisenhower to supply equipment and information to schools, hospitals and research institutions.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Seminar - Open to the Public

Light Water Capitalism: Nonproliferation and U.S. Global Power

Thu., Mar. 11, 2021 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speaker: Jayita Sarkar, Ernest May Fellow in History & Policy, International Security Program

How do the exports of U.S. power reactors relate to nonproliferation, global capitalism, and U.S. empire? And what does that tell us about the dominance by design of U.S. government and businesses in the decolonized world, where they promised development but delivered debt? This seminar pursues this inquiry through investigating the role of the light water reactor as an instrument of U.S. nonproliferation policy from the mid-1950s until the end of the 1980s.

Everyone is welcome to join us via Zoom! Register before the seminar here:
https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMscOyspz0uHdDEEReU3VaamAmpD7qRPMrO

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017.

Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Wikimedia Commons

Seminar - Open to the Public

Nuclear Challenges to India’s Security and its Nuclear Doctrine

Wed., Mar. 10, 2021 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Online

A Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) seminar with Dr Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow and leader of the Nuclear Security project at the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) in New Delhi.

Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link.

A journalist checks radiation levels near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2012.

AP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno, Pool

Conference - Open to the Public

Nuclear Safety and Security After Chernobyl and Fukushima: Lessons Learned and Forgotten

Wed., Mar. 3, 2021 - Fri., Mar. 5, 2021

Online

The Project on Managing the Atom will host a three-day virtual conference March 3-5 to mark the 10th and 35th anniversaries, respectively, of the Fukushima Daiichi and Chernobyl nuclear disasters. Experts and officials from around the world will provide reflections on progress made in nuclear safety, security, and governance in the years after these accidents and highlight evolving challenges in these crucial areas. The conference will feature a special session with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

The Project on Managing the Atom is proud to present this conference as part of its 25th year of activities.