Inside the Fall/Winter 2018-19 Newsletter

In this issue, we are pleased to introduce the Belfer Center’s Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project. The brainchild of Belfer Center Director Ash Carter, the goal of the project is to ensure that emerging technologies are developed and managed in ways that serve humanity as a whole. TAPP leverages experts from Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, along with leaders in technology, government, and business, to help create a future where technology works for the public good in the fields of digital, biotech, and jobs and training.

Continuing its efforts to help defend elections against malicious hacking and mis/disinformation, the Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) sent its team to five states to observe midterm elections and talk with election officials about steps they’ve taken to fortify their states against attacks. Since its launch just 18 months ago, D3P has engaged 44 of 50 states to improve their readiness, resistance, and resilience.

The Belfer Center welcomed a new Executive Director in November. Aditi Kumar, a Harvard Kennedy School and Business School alum, brings to the Center a rich set of experiences and a remarkable record of managing complex projects and high-performing teams, along with her scholarship on international affairs and financial and economic policy.

From New Haven to Reykjavik to Beijing, public and private sector leaders are taking bold steps to protect the planet from the impacts of climate change. The Center’s Arctic Initiative took 24 students to Iceland in October to present innovative ideas regarding climate challenges, and the Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) presented the Roy Award in November to a partnership in New Haven, Connecticut, that is building bioswales to prevent city flooding. ENRP is also completing a study of efforts to reduce carbon emissions in China. Three of the ENRP fellows working on decarbonization initiatives in China are featured in this issue.

In our Spotlight section, we feature Professor Dara Kay Cohen, whose research focuses on the dynamics of violence and gender and conflict. Her book Rape During Civil War has been recognized with several awards. In our Q&A section, we feature Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Belfer Center Senior Fellow and upcoming Director of the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

We also feature two of the Center’s outstanding fellows: Bo Julie Crowley, a Belfer Center International and Global Affairs Student Fellow and Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Managing the Atom/Iran Project Research Fellow.

Technology and Society

• Managing Technology’s Risks to Society
• Observing the Midterms to Fortify Election Security
• digital HKS Offers Leaders Tools to Understand How Digital Applications Transform Government

Climate Change Impacts and Mitigation

• Decarbonization Initiatives in China
• Arctic Initiative Takes Innovation and Expertise to Reykjavik
• Winning Partnership Works to Prevent City Flooding

Global Relations and Security

• New Korea Project Advances Research and Analysis of Korean Peninsula Affairs
• Ash Carter on U.S. Grand Strategy in Asia
• Graham Allison: U.S., China Must Work to Prevent War
• Keeping Communications Open Despite U.S.-Russia Friction
• Center Welcomes National Security Fellows

Featured Members of the Center

• Aditi Kumar Named Center’s New Executive Director
• Q&A with Wendy Sherman
• Spotlight on Dara Kay Cohen
• Featured Research Fellow: Sahar Nowrouzzadeh
• Featured Student Fellow: Bo Julie Crowley

Additional Features

• From the Director
• Hot Off the Presses
• Newsmakers
• International Security Journal Highlights
• Belfer in Brief

Flip through the newsletter here.

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