The Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will host a discussion on the future of arms control, as part of a new HKS series on The Future World Order.  The participants will be Emma Belcher (Ploughshares Fund), Matthew Bunn (Belfer Center/Managing the Atom) and Steven E. Miller (Belfer Center/International Security Program).  Professor Stephen Walt (Belfer Center/ISP) will moderate.

A seminar with Joost Hiltermann, Program Director, Middle East and North Africa, International Crisis Group.

The end of the Cold War left the United States in a remarkable position: It was far and away the world's most powerful country, and it was on good terms with most of the world's major powers. Despite these advantages, its foreign policy record since then is mostly one of disappointments and sometimes costly failures. These recurring follies are due in part to America's structural position in the international system, but they also reveal some recurring weaknesses in America's foreign policy establishment and its overall approach to foreign affairs.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Theory creating and hypothesis testing are both important elements of social science. Unfortunately, in recent years the balance between theory creation/refinement and the testing of empirical hypotheses has shifted sharply toward the latter. This trend is unfortunate, because insufficient attention to theory can lead to misspecified models and overreliance on misleading measures of key concepts. In addition, the poor quality of much of the data in IR makes it less likely that these efforts will produce useful cumulative knowledge.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is one of the more controversial recent books in international affairs.  This seminar will discuss the book's main thesis, examine some of the critical responses to it, and consider how the debate on the "special relationship" between the United States and Israel has evolved over the past two years.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come-first served basis.

The first Civil Society Forum, as part of Harvard's inaugural MENA (Middle East/North Africa) Weekend will feature Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard as the keynote speaker and Dr. Jack Shaheen screening his film Reel Bad Arabs.

Click here to register and learn more about the MENA weekend.

The basic theme of the seminar is to explain why the optimism that arose at the end of the Cold War turned out to be incorrect:

Weatherhead Center U.S. Foreign Policy Seminar

"Inclusive Security: Can Women Stop War?" Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations; Joy Mukanyange, Director of Diplomatic and Consular Mission for the Rwandan Minstry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperations; Shiranee Tilakawardane, Supreme Court Judge, Sri Lanka; Masuda Sultan, Program Director, Women for Afghan Women, MPA 2005; and Swanee Hunt, Director, Women in Public Policy Program (Moderator)

Dean Walt will present the concluding chapter of his forthcoming book FOR US AND AGAINST US: GLOBAL RESPONSES TO AMERICAN POWER.