BCSIA Annual Report, 1980-1981: Overview

BCSIA: 1980-1981 ANNUAL REPORT
1. Overview

OVERVIEW

The eighth annual report of the Center for Science and International Affairs (CSIA) covers the period from July 1, l98O to June 30, 1981.

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 is housed in the Kennedy School of Government''s building at 79 Boylston Street.

The Center has continued the Program''s objective of advancing understanding and resolution of major problems of international security through research, publication, training, and teaching. The major focus is on arms control and disarmament and the part these 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 receives 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, and the prospects of regime changes in developing countries.

The research conducted is integrative in character and draws upon the natural, social, and behavioral sciences.

During 1980-81, the Center was administered by Professor Paul Doty, Director; Professor Michael Nacht, Associate Director; Dr. David Deese, Assistant to the 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.

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

Four working groups were conducted this year: Theatre Nuclear Force Modernization; Energy and Security, Political Instability in Developing Countries; and Domestic Politics and National Security. These working groups provide a vehicle for collaborative work and exchange of information and views by members of the research staff with similar interests. The aim of each group is to produce either a book or one or more related journal articles.

Among the subjects dealt with in works published during the past year by members of the research staff were nuclear power and proliferation, SALT, conflict in the Persian Gulf, NATO defense spending, INFCE, U.S.-Japanese security and nuclear energy relations, and ICBM vulnerability. Articles on these subjects appeared in Arms Control Today, Asian Survey, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Daedalus, Foreign Policy, International Organization, International Security, and in several edited volumes. Energy and Security, a volume published in 1981 by Ballinger, is the product of a CSIA Seminar conducted jointly with the Kennedy School''s Energy and Environmental Policy Center and the Center for International Affairs (CFIA). Another edited volume published in 1981, Soviet Military Thinking, brought together the writings of several authors at CSIA and elsewhere on contemporary Soviet approaches to military problems.

International Security, the quarterly journal sponsored and edited by the Center and published by the MIT Press, completed its fifth year of operation in the Spring of 1981. 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 Arms Control Seminar, administered in conjunction with the CFIA; the CSIA Visitors Seminar; and the CSIA Research Seminar. In addition, the CSIA collaborated with the CFIA and the Kennedy School''s Energy and Environmental Policy Center (EEPC) in sponsoring the Energy and Security Seminar.

The course "Technology, War and Peace" was taught this year by Professor Nacht. 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 106 students enrolled, 19 were graduate students for whom a special section was 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.

During the year CSIA was actively involved in organizing, sponsoring and hosting two workshops and conferences: a Workshop on Energy and Social Adaptation sponsored by The MITRE Corporation, the Rockefeller Family and the Department of Energy, and a Workshop on Energy and Security sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Table of Contents:

OverviewOrganization and Personnel

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