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Adobe Stock

The Geopolitics of Information

To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.

 Sudanese protesters crowd a train in the capital Khartoum.

AP

People Power Is Rising in Africa

The authors analyze the trend of nonviolent overthrows of dictatorships in Africa.

Workers dismantle the Belt and Road Forum logo next to the “Golden Bridge of Silk Road” structure outside the media center as leaders are attending the round table summit of the Belt and Road Forum chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Saturday, April 27, 2019

AP Photo/Andy Wong

The Triangle in the Long Game

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how China’s new power is reaching Europe, the challenges that it poses, and the European responses to this new reality. This process has to be examined in the context of the current strategic competition between China and the U.S. and its reflection on the transatlantic relationship.

Aditi Kumar, Nicholas Burns, and Samantha Power

Summer 2019 Newsletter Photos

Photos from the Summer 2019 Belfer Center newsletter.

Programs

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  • Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
  • Homeland Security Project
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  • Managing the Atom
  • Middle East Initiative
  • Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship
  • Security and Global Health
  • Technology and Public Purpose
  • US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

Special Initiatives

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  • An Economic View of the Environment 
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Multimedia Series

International Security Author Chats

  • Reid Pauly screenshot

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Reid Pauly

      Author:
    • Reid Pauly
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Mar. 26, 2019
    • Read more about Author Chat: Reid Pauly

    Reid B.C. Pauly explains how declassified records of wargames played by U.S. policymakers can reveal why nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945.

  • Michael Beckley screenshot

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Michael Beckley

      Author:
    • Michael Beckley
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Feb. 15, 2019
    • Read more about Author Chat: Michael Beckley

    Michael Beckley explains how power can be measured more accurately by calculating a country’s net resources.

  • Patrick Porter

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Patrick Porter

      Author:
    • Patrick Porter
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | May 04, 2018
    • Read more about Author Chat: Patrick Porter

    Patrick Porter explains why the United States continues to pursue a grand strategy of primacy.

  • Michael Beckley Screenshot

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Michael Beckley

      Author:
    • Michael Beckley
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 26, 2018
    • Read more about Author Chat: Michael Beckley

    Michael Beckley explains how China’s maritime neighbors can prevent China from dominating East Asia militarily.

  • Author Chat: Nicholas Miller

    Video - International Security

    Author Chat: Nicholas Miller

      Author:
    • Nicholas L Miller
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 02, 2018
    • Read more about Author Chat: Nicholas Miller

    Nicholas Miller on why states with nuclear energy programs are not more likely to pursue nuclear weapons.

  • Author Chat: Jacqueline Hazelton

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Jacqueline Hazelton

      Author:
    • Jacqueline L. Hazelton
    | Nov. 07, 2017
    • Read more about Author Chat: Jacqueline Hazelton

    Jacqueline Hazelton challenges the conventional wisdom that states must make liberalizing reforms and win the population’s “hearts and minds” to defeat insurgencies.

  • Author Chat: Vipin Narang

    Belfer Center

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Vipin Narang

      Author:
    • Vipin Narang
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Mar. 16, 2017
    • Read more about Author Chat: Vipin Narang

    Vipin Narang explains how states choose among four possible strategies for developing nuclear weapons.

     

  • Author Chat: Joseph S. Nye

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Joseph S. Nye

      Related:
    • Joseph S. Nye
    | Mar. 08, 2017
    • Read more about Author Chat: Joseph S. Nye

    Joseph S. Nye explains how states can deter or dissuade adversaries in cyberspace.
     

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: FDR's Undeclared War

      Author:
    • John Schuessler
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | May 21, 2010
    • Read more about Podcast: FDR's Undeclared War

    Sean Lynn-Jones interviews John Schuessler on his article. John Schuessler is Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Security in the Department of Leadership and Strategy at the Air War College.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: China's Economy

      Author:
    • Michael Beckley
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Dec. 04, 2011
    • Read more about Podcast: China's Economy

    Much has been made of the rise of China's economy, and some fear that China will surpass the United States as the world's largest economy in the coming years. Michael Beckley goes against the grain, arguing that the size of a nation's economy doesn't necessarily dictate its global power, and that the United States is not in great danger because of China's economic developments.

    Beckley and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss this and the state of the Chinese economy as a whole when compared to the United States'.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: The Foundation of Security Studies

      Author:
    • David Ekbladh
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 04, 2012
    • Read more about Podcast: The Foundation of Security Studies

    Edward Mead Earle was a historian, scholar, professor, and international relations expert; he was also a founding father of the field we know as Security Studies.

    David Ekbladh and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss Earle's contributions to the field, his views on what Security Studies should be, his seminar at the Institute for Advanced Study, and what he might think of Security Studies today.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: China's Relations with Europe and the U.S. in the Wake of Tiananmen Square

      Related:
    • M.E. Sarotte
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Nov. 20, 2012
    • Read more about Podcast: China's Relations with Europe and the U.S. in the Wake of Tiananmen Square

    The actions of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests nearly split the Communist Party of China.

    Sarotte and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss internal party reactions to the event, how it affected relations between the U.S. and China, and lessons the CCP may have learned from other Cold War-era governments.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution

      Author:
    • Lucas Kello
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Oct. 02, 2013
    • Read more about Podcast: The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution

    As Lucas Kello reveals, it is far easier to attack than to defend when it comes to cyberwar. Kello and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss the dangers of cyberwar, review recent cases of cyberattack, and offer security advice for policymakers.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Podcast: The Structure of Success

      Author:
    • Peter Krause
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 17, 2014
    • Read more about Podcast: The Structure of Success

    Peter Krause describes how the internal structure of violent and nonviolent national movements is the key to understanding their success--or failure.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Audio - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Mark Bell

      Author:
    • Mark S. Bell
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Oct. 01, 2015
    • Read more about Author Chat: Mark Bell

    Mark Bell discusses how acquiring nuclear weapons affects states' foreign policy.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: John Schuessler

      Author:
    • John Schuessler
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | May 21, 2010
    • Read more about Podcast: John Schuessler

    Sean Lynn-Jones interviews John Schuessler on his article. John Schuessler is Assistant Professor of Strategy and International Security in the Department of Leadership and Strategy at the Air War College.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: Michael Beckley

      Author:
    • Michael Beckley
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Dec. 14, 2011
    • Read more about Podcast: Michael Beckley

    Much has been made of the rise of China's economy, and some fear that China will surpass the United States as the world's largest economy in the coming years. Michael Beckley goes against the grain, arguing that the size of a nation's economy doesn't necessarily dictate its global power, and that the United States is not in great danger because of China's economic developments.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: David Ekbladh

      Author:
    • David Ekbladh
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 04, 2012
    • Read more about Podcast: David Ekbladh

    Edward Mead Earle was a historian, scholar, professor, and international relations expert; he was also a founding father of the field we know as Security Studies. David Ekbladh and Lynn-Jones discuss Earle's contributions to the field, his views on what Security Studies should be, his seminar at the Institute for Advanced Study, and what he might think of Security Studies today.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: Mary Sarotte

      Author:
    • M.E. Sarotte
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Nov. 20, 2012
    • Read more about Podcast: Mary Sarotte

    The actions of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests nearly split the Communist Party of China. Sarotte and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss internal party reactions to the event, how it affected relations between the US and China, and lessons the CCP may have learned from other Cold War-era governments.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: Lucas Kello

      Author:
    • Lucas Kello
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Oct. 02, 2013
    • Read more about Podcast: Lucas Kello

    Kello and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss the dangers of cyber war, review recent cases of cyber attack, and offer security advice for policymakers.

  • teaser image

    Audio - International Security

    Podcast: Peter Krause

      Author:
    • Peter Krause
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Jan. 17, 2014
    • Read more about Podcast: Peter Krause

    Peter Krause describes how the internal structure of violent and nonviolent national movements is the key to understanding their success--or failure.

  • Colorful book fan of International Security journal covers

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Michael Beckley

      Author:
    • Michael Beckley
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | July 22, 2015
    • Read more about Author Chat: Michael Beckley

    As Michael Beckley reveals, the United States' alliance commitments draw it into conflict far less often than many assume.

  • Gene Gerzhoy

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Gene Gerzhoy

      Author:
    • Gene Gerzhoy
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | July 22, 2015
    • Read more about Author Chat: Gene Gerzhoy

    Gene Gerzhoy discusses how a powerful state can prevent a weaker ally from acquiring nuclear weapons.

  • Author Chat: Aisha Ahmad

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Aisha Ahmad

      Author:
    • Aisha Ahmad
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Oct. 06, 2015
    • Read more about Author Chat: Aisha Ahmad

    Aisha Ahmad shows how the local business community helped Islamists gain power during the Somali civil war.

  • Author Chat: Francis Gavin

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Francis Gavin

      Author:
    • Francis Gavin
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Oct. 06, 2015
    • Read more about Author Chat: Francis Gavin

    Francis Gavin describes the central role that nonproliferation has played in U.S. grand strategy over the past several decades.

  • Author Chat: Taylor Fravel

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Taylor Fravel

      Author:
    • M. Taylor Fravel
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Feb. 26, 2016
    • Read more about Author Chat: Taylor Fravel

    Taylor Fravel discusses whether China will abandon its long-standing nuclear strategy of assured retaliation for a first-use posture.

  • Author Chat: Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson

    Video - Quarterly Journal: International Security

    Author Chat: Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson

      Author:
    • Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson
      Related:
    • Sean M. Lynn-Jones
    | Aug. 05, 2016
    • Read more about Author Chat: Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson

    Joshua Itzkowitz Shifrinson argues that, during the 1990 negotiations over German reunification, the United States made the Soviet Union an informal pledge not to expand NATO.

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