BCSIA Annual Report, 1981-1982: Overview

BCSIA: 1981-1982 ANNUAL REPORT
1. Overview

OVERVIEW

This, the ninth annual report of the Center for Science and International Affairs (CSIA), covers the period from July 1, 1981 to June 30, 1982. In its nine years of existence, CSIA has hosted more than 100 pre- and post-doctoral fellows from a variety of disciplines, from a variety of professional, governmental, and academic backgrounds, and from abroad as well as the United States. Of these, approximately one-fourth were graduate students who received financial and administrative support from CSIA; half of them have completed their doctorates. The CSIA research staff has produced several hundred publications in professional journals and in edited volumes, as well as a number of books. In addition, CSIA created and has established a quarterly journal, International Security, which has published roughly 200 articles on all aspects of security in the modern world. Thus we believe that CSIA''s first nine years have been fruitful ones.

On July 1, 1978, the former Program for Science and International Affairs (PSIA) joined the John F. Kennedy School of Government and under its new name— the Center for Science and International Affairs (CSIA)--became the first research center of the School. The creation of this permanent Center was made possible by a $4 million grant from the Ford Foundation. Supplemented by funds raised for the Harvard Program in Public Policy and Management, the grant provides an endowment sufficient to ensure the continuation of the Center.

The Center has continued its objective of advancing understanding and resolution of major problems of international security through research, publication, training, and teaching. A major substantive focus is arms control and the part it can play in reducing the dependence on force in world politics. This involves a concern with the theoretical bases underlying the role of force in international conflicts, with the motivation for and the long-term consequences of the spread of weapons to other countries, and with the evaluation of more immediate policy problems and the choices available for their resolution. The means by which nuclear weapons capability can be constrained and reduced in a way that diminishes the likelihood of war receive particular emphasis.

Related areas of research include the benefits and risks attendant to the growing use of nuclear materials in power generation, the international competition for energy resources and the likelihood of conflict stemming from this competition, the prospects of regime changes in developing countries, and the militarization of space.

During 1981-82, the Center was administered by Professor Paul Doty, Director; Professor Michael Nacht, Associate Director; Steven Miller, Assistant Director; and Dr. Dorothy Zinberg, Director of Seminars and Special Projects. Advice and direction were provided by Professor Albert Carnesale, Senior Faculty Research Associate, and by an Advisory Committee of eleven senior authorities in the field.

Thirteen scholars and professionals were in residence full- or part-time, and nine graduate students were provided with guidance in writing theses, as well as with office space, administrative support, and other resources.

Two working groups were conducted this year: one on Ballistic Missile Defense, which explored the prospects for and implications of the renewed interest in the possible deployment of some form of anti-ballistic missile system; and one on Political Instability in the Third World, which examined the challenge this phenomenon poses to American foreign policy. These working groups provide a forum for collaborative work and for exchange of information and views by members of the research staff with similar interests. The aim of each group is either to produce an edited volume of essays or to assist group members in the preparation of journal articles.

During the past year, several dozen essays by members of the CSIA research staff were published, on subjects such as nuclear arms control, strategic weapons policy, European security, nuclear power and nuclear proliferation, energy and security, U.S.-Japanese security, science policy, and the role of public opinion in nuclear issues. Articles on these subjects appeared in Arms Control, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Christian Science Monitor, Comparative Politics, Europa Archiv, Foreign Policy, Harvard Magazine, International Security, The New Leader, Orbis, Strategic Survey, Washington Quarterly, and in several edited volumes.

International Security, the quarterly journal sponsored and edited by the Center and published by the MIT Press, completed its sixth year of operation in the spring of 1982. It continued its effort to provide timely and imaginative analyses that reflect diverse points of view and varied professional experiences. The articles either present new research findings or confront and interpret current policy problems.

Three series of seminars were continued from previous years: the Harvard Strategy and Arms Control Seminar, administered in conjunction with the Harvard Center for International Affairs (CFIA); the CSIA Visitors Seminar; and the CSIA Research Seminar. In addition, CSIA collaborated with CFIA, the Center for Middle Eastern Affairs, and the Kennedy School''s Energy and Environmental Policy Center (EEPC) in sponsoring the International Energy and Security Seminar.

The course "Technology, War and Peace" was taught this year by Professors Nacht and Carnesale; several Center members participated as teaching fellows. The course was cosponsored by the Harvard University Office of General Education and the Kennedy School of Government. Of the 166 students enrolled, 47 were graduate students for whom two special sections were formed. Subjects covered included current and future problems created by the development of nuclear weapons and the range of possibilities that exist for controlling them, the history of the atomic bomb, the role of science and technology in both promoting and undermining stability, and the relationship of peaceful nuclear energy to nuclear weapons proliferation.

Table of Contents:

OverviewOrganization and Personnel

Research and PublicationsSeminars Other Center Activities Related Professional Activities Former Members of the Research Staff