Reports & Papers
BCSIA: 1998-1999 ANNUAL REPORT
2. Overview from the Executive Director
My first year at the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has confirmed for me the reputation the institution enjoys as seen from my long years of government service. The Center''s claim to being the hub of the John F. Kennedy School''s research, teaching and training in international security affairs, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy is not only manifestly true, but somewhat understates the impact the talented academics and professional staff have on the unique academic intellectual environment of the Kennedy School and on the evolution of U.S. policy on international affairs.
During the past year the Center has supported major new initiatives of the Department of Justice to better prepare the nation to deal with the growing threat of domestic terrorism. Through the excellent work of the Managing the Atom Project, we assisted the Department of Energy''s effort to assure that nuclear weapons-grade material in the former Soviet Union is adequately safeguarded and effectively transferred and stored, while finding alternative opportunities for the talented scientists previously employed in this work. Lewis Branscomb has accepted a mission from the Department of Commerce to improve the understanding of our business community on management of risk in developmental high-technology projects. John Holdren, John White, and Ashton Carter are repeatedly sought out by the administration to share their knowledge and contribute their effort in resolving problems that are central to the United States'' security and prosperity.
The faculty of the Center is involved in the full range of Kennedy School courses on all aspects of international affairs. Our core work on the intensive preparation of some 40 carefully selected pre- and postdoctoral fellows through extended interaction and involvement in the work of senior faculty continues to assure that succeeding generations of well-trained scholars will be available for our finest universities and for public service. The involvement of Belfer Center personnel at the most prestigious conferences and seminars hosted by government, private industry, and academia is a tribute to their knowledge and diversity.
As reflected in the chapters that follow, the written products of the members of the Center are astounding in their quantity and remarkable in their ability to define the issues that will set the future course for the United States in science, security, and the environment. The journal of the Center, International Security, and the book series sponsored by the International Security Program remain at the very top of their field of endeavor and the models for their peers.
The practical and important efforts undertaken by the Center in Global Environmental Assessment, Strengthening Democratic Institutions in the former Soviet Union, the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project''s adaptation to the new communications technologies, and the Human Rights Initiative''s definition of more effective policies for manifesting human rights concerns are each in their own way improving the world.
In addition to reporting this long record of accomplishment and the universal acknowledgment of their peers, I am extraordinarily pleased to note the energy and agility that the Center has maintained under the leadership of Graham Allison. In the past year a major new capacity has been initiated within the Center''s science program to respond to the urgent debate over biotechnology and biodiversity, which may be one of the defining issues of the next decade in United States'' international relations and economy. The decision of the World Peace Foundation to make the Belfer Center the home for their new program on Intrastate Conflict, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution provides the Center unique new opportunities to engage one of the most immediate security challenges of the new century.
As you will note in the sections that follow, the Center continues its long history of success in stimulating learning at the Kennedy School through its program of hosting the most influential and erudite men and women from around the world. The list of presidents, prime ministers, eminent scholars, and innovative entrepreneurs identified in our chapter on BCSIA Events reflects a level of engagement that is unsurpassed in the academic world.
I encourage you to read in detail the Annual Report for a full understanding of the accomplishments and potential of this unique grouping of scholars and practitioners in international affairs. Their individual stories are no less remarkable than that of the Center as a whole.
My first year at BCSIA has been one of excitement and discovery. Those of you chosen to receive this report are all part of the greater Center family, and it is my hope that the enthusiasm that I hold for the work done here will be shared by you as you read about the Center''s accomplishments and our plans for the future. We invite your involvement; we welcome your observations; and we look forward to continued engagement in the future.
John Reppert
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Table of Contents:
Environment and Natural Resources ProgramInternational Security Program Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project BCSIA Events BCSIA Publications Associates Biographies
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