Spring 2018 Belfer Center Newsletter

In this issue, we highlight our recently published Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) playbooks that include concrete suggestions to help campaign staff and state and local election officials better safeguard critical systems and deter/respond to misinformation. The playbook recommendations are the result of extensive field research, meetings, and tabletop exercises with Secretaries of State and other elections and campaign officials across the country. The bi-partisan digital “avengers squad” leading this effort includes Belfer Center Co-Director Eric Rosenbach, former Clinton and Romney campaign managers Robby Mook and Matt Rhoades, a number of top cyber and communications experts, and two dozen Harvard and MIT students.

Speaking about technological change and opportunity in an excerpt from the MIT Technology Review, Center Director Ash Carter emphasizes the need for “a deep regard for the awesome risks” that come with some technological changes and the importance to “steer technology in the direction of public good.”

Also in this newsletter, a Belfer Center Elbe Group gathering in Moscow helps explain why the divide between the U.S. and Russia has deepened but included one important way former high-level military and intelligence officials from both countries think they can work together to reduce the risk of war.

Rapid climate change in the Arctic is taking a toll and serving as a bellweather for climate impacts elsewhere around the globe. A number of Harvard Kennedy School student innovators are tackling Arctic-related issues as part of the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative. We highlight several of their innovative ideas and the winning proposal by Gabrielle Scrimshaw. Also in this newsletter we spotlight Arctic Initiative co-founder Halla Hrund Logadóttir.

Also in this issue, we celebrate Calestous Juma, our beloved colleague and renowned “renaissance man” for science, technology, and innovation, who passed away in December. We include tributes and moving remembrances from heads of state and global NGOs, government officials and scientific organizations, and from scholars, students, colleagues, and readers of his Twitter posts who had never met him. We also fondly remember Chuck Cogan, a long-time affiliate with the Center and former career CIA officer, who died in December at age 89.

We’re also pleased to feature three of our outstanding research fellows and their contributions on critical international issues: Jonas Bergan Draege, Mahsa Rouhi, and Elmar Hellendoorn. And we welcome new Senior Fellow Dina Powell.

Remembering and Celebrating our Colleagues

• Celebrating Calestous Juma
• Remembering Chuck Cogan

Cybersecurity Challenges and Opportunities

• Building Cyber Defenses for U.S. Elections
• Cyber Security Project Launches Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Science, Technology, and Climate Impacts

• Technological Change and Opportunity - with Civic Responsibility
• Bridging Science and Societies
• As Climate Change Upends the Arctic, Innovators Seek Solutions
• Linking Science to Action, Harvard Will Be Fossil Fuel-Free by 2050

Global Relations and International Security

• Evaluating the Nuclear Posture Review
• U.S.-Russia Relations: Differences and a Point of Agreement
• Israel Track II Dialogue Connects Experts, Policymakers
• Track II Conference: Northeast Asia in Strategic Transition
• President of Iceland: Small Country, Large Impact

Advancing Knowledge Through Research

• Spotlight: Halla Hrund Logadottir -Where Climate, Security, and Development Meet
• Jonas Bergan Draege: Protests and Party Politics on the Ground in Turkey
• Mahsa Rouhi: Understanding Iran, from the Inside and Out
• Elmar Hellendoorn: U.S. Nuclear Strategy and the Protection of Europe
• Dina Powell Joins as Senior Fellow

Belfer Center Initiatives and Updates

• Harvard's Kennedy and Divinity Schools Launch Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative
• One Year into Trump Term: Bets Won and Lost
• For Fifth Straight Year, Belfer is Top University Think Tank

Additional Features

• From the Director
• Hot Off the Presses
• Newsmakers: Jeffrey Karam, Sheila Jasanoff, Ambuj Sagar, Samantha Power, Wendy Sherman, and William Tobey
• International Security Journal featured articles

Photo Gallery

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